U.S. stocks eke out gain after erasing most of post-inflation report rally
U.S. stocks finished marginally higher on Thursday after blowing...
U.S. stocks finished marginally higher on Thursday after blowing a huge gain that had followed the release of a hotly anticipated inflation report for July.The S&P 500SPX finished higher by 1.20 points, or less than 0.1%, at 4,468.91, according to preliminary data from FactSet. The Nasdaq Composite COMP rose by 15.97 points, or 0.1%, to 13,737.99. The Dow Jones Industrial AverageDJIA advanced 52.39 points, or 0.2%, to 35,175.75 after rising more than 450 points earlier. July inflation data came in roughly as economists had expected, with the CPI index rising 0.2% for the month. However, later in the day, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said the central bank still has more work to do to tame inflation, which pushed Treasury yields higher, in turn weighing on stocks. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
U.S. crude stocks rose on the back of a sharp drop in oil exports, while gasoline and distillate inventories...
U.S. crude stocks rose on the back of a sharp drop in oil exports, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 5.9 million barrels in the last week to 445.6 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.6 million-barrel rise.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hubrose by 159,000 barrels in the week to Aug 4, EIA said.
U.S. crude oil exports fell by 2.9 million barrels per day last week, the steepest fall on record, to 2.36 million barrels per day, according to the data. Net U.S. crude imports rose by 2.94 million barrels per day, EIA said.
New oil, gas discoveries down in first half of year
Oil and natural gas explorers found 2.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the first half of the year,...
Oil and natural gas explorers found 2.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the first half of the year, down 42% from the first six months of 2022, according to Rystad Energy research. Companies made 55 discoveries in the first half of 2023, compared to 80 during the same period of 2022, according to Rystad, which points out that Guyana has the most discovered BOE so far this year, followed by Turkey and Nigeria.
Some Maui residents jumped into the ocean to escape wildfires. The people were “transported...
Some Maui residents jumped into the ocean to escape wildfires. The people were “transported by the Coast Guard to safe areas,” officials said. Meanwhile, 911 service, cell service, and some landlines were down on parts of the island. Richard Bissen, the mayor of Maui County, said Wednesday that at least six people were killed as a result of the wildfires. The death toll has since been reported as high as 36.
Energy stocks are opening in the green, with higher broader index futures set to offset slightly lower energy commodity prices. News flow and earnings are slowly beginning to wind down, with late August seasonal trends on the horizon. July inflation data came in as expected, with a 0.2% rise month-over-month and a 3.2% increase from 12 months ago. Probabilities for Fed rate increases at the upcoming meetings in September and November declined following the inflationary data.
Oil prices are marginally lower,consolidating near 2023 highs. Both benchmarks have been on a sustained rally since June, with WTI trading at its highest this year on Thursday and Brent hitting its highest price since January. Oil prices have been boosted in recent days by extensions to output cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, alongside supply fears driven by the potential for tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea region to threaten Russian oil shipments.
Natural gas futures are down by a nickel, trading around $2.91, ahead of weekly inventory data.