Crude Oil Trading Upbeat, Yellen’s Statement Supports

Crude oil trading is back on the green as investors draw optimism from Janet Yellen’s statement on bigger stimulus spending.

In her address released earlier, the Biden-nominated US Treasury Secretary urged policymakers to act big on the monetary cushion.

She added that action is imperative in keeping the economy afloat amid the persisting health crisis. This is despite worries on debt burden after the generous monetary injection.

Along with the statement, the weakened dollar also provided support on the oil price.

In the latest commodity charts, the Brent crude futures added 37 cents to $56.22 per barrel. This translates to a 0.66% hike for the day on top of the 2.1% gain in the preceding session.

Consequently, the WTI futures followed suit and jumped by 0.77% or 41 cents to $53.39 per barrel. It garnered a 1.2% increase on Tuesday.

The market is currently waiting for an update from the American Petroleum Institute and the US Energy Information Administration.

Ahead of the oil stockpile reports, an expert in the field noted that spectators are currently expecting a fall on crude inventory.

The same pattern is observed in the last six weeks. The world’s leading oil producers’ decision to curb daily production influenced the decision.

In a poll conducted, participating analysts expect a fall in crude stocks by 300,000 barrels in the week ending January 15.

On the other hand, gasoline stockpiles are likely to remain on the red with an inventory hike amounting to 3 million barrels.

Consequently, distillate inventories will follow the downward trend as observed in the prior weeks. 

Stockpiles are likely to rest at 800,000 barrels amid the still-persistent mobility restrictions across the globe. This curbes the demand for jet fuel and diesel.

Natural Gas Falls Despite Goldman Sachs’ Bullish Forecast

While the crude price soars to one of its highest settlement since the start of the health crisis, natural gas fails to join the uptrend.

This is despite the bullish forecast from Goldman Sachs released earlier.

The new price trend is based on the anticipation for warmer weather in the United States in the next two weeks.

Such a report instantaneously sent natgas futures for February delivery prices 5% lower in the New York Mercantile Exchange.

According to an expert in the field, the setback came despite the optimistic result in LNG records where last week’s draw came better than expected.

The market is currently keeping close monitoring on commodity charts ahead of Biden’s inauguration later in the day.