Oil turns negative, gold rebounds

Oil dips as OPEC+ fails to reach decision

The EIA crude oil inventory left me with mixed feelings.  US crude production rose 100,000 barrels a day last week, taking the total to over 11 million barrels a day, which was the first time since December.  US output is at the top of the range that has been in place since the summer and that could be worrying some OPEC+ members that they could start losing market share to the Americans.

Imports rose a strong 9.3%, while exports surged 27.9% and back above the 3 million barrel a day level.  Jet fuel demand is roaring back, and that is hardly surprising given the successful US COVID vaccine rollout (also my social media platforms that show many family and friends are making their vacation plans).  The February deep freeze is in the rearview mirror and refiners continue to make progress with the utilization rate now increasing for a fourth consecutive week to 83.9%.

Crude prices quickly turned negative after OPEC+ ministerial panel failed to reach a policy recommendation for tomorrow.  Energy traders used the hesitancy to commit to a policy decision as an excuse to lock in profits.  OPEC+ meetings always seem to go down to the wire and this should not come as a surprise.  A survey also showed that March output rose 180,000 barrels in March, with compliance rising from 121% to 124%.

Metals

President Biden’s infrastructure plan and additional wave of money growth is sending the dollar lower and both precious and base metals higher.  Commodities are the winners to Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan as investments in domestic manufacturing and fixing roads, bridges and ports will drive the next commodity supercycle.

Copper consumption will enter hyperdrive and that should keep that market in a deficit for the second half of the year.

Gold is rallying after just dodging bear market territory as some investors anticipate the weaker dollar trend can’t be too far away.  Gold’s kryptonite is surging Treasury yields, but a steady climb will not derail the bullish second half of the year outlook.  Gold needs pricing pressures to grow and that will take a few months at the very least.

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Ed Moya

Ed Moya

Contributing Author at OANDA
With more than 20 years’ trading experience, Ed Moya was a Senior Market Analyst with OANDA for the Americas from November 2018 to November 2023. His particular expertise lies across a wide range of asset classes including FX, commodities, fixed income, stocks and cryptocurrencies. Over the course of his career, Ed has worked with some of the leading forex brokerages, research teams and news departments on Wall Street including Global Forex Trading, FX Solutions and Trading Advantage. Prior to OANDA he worked with TradeTheNews.com, where he provided market analysis on economic data and corporate news. Based in New York, Ed is a regular guest on several major financial television networks including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo! Finance Live, Fox Business, cheddar news, and CoinDesk TV. His views are trusted by the world’s most respected global newswires including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Associated Press, and he is regularly quoted in leading publications such as MSN, MarketWatch, Forbes, Seeking Alpha, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Ed holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.