Inside Financial Markets

BRENT SLIPS NEAR $110 AFTER UKRAINE ELECTION

brent wellBRENT SLIPS NEAR $110 AFTER UKRAINE ELECTION

SINGAPORE, May 26 (Reuters) – Brent crude edged down towards $110 a barrel on Monday, dipping further from last week’s two-and-a-half month high as worries over Ukraine eased slightly after its presidential election.

Resistance levels for Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on technical charts are also preventing prices from rising further. Market activity is expected to be limited as the U.S. and UK markets are closed for holidays.

July Brent crude  LCOc1 was at $110.06 a barrel, down 48 cents, by 0255 GMT. U.S. crude futures for July delivery  CLc1 edged down 29 cents to $104.06 a barrel, after settling on Friday at the highest since April 21.

Brent has risen briefly past a resistance level at $110.65 last week while WTI has traded near its resistance to $105, said Ric Spooner, chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

“There’s a bit of a caution here … markets are struggling to get past the chart resistance,” he said.

Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to May 20, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said, ahead of peak summer demand. The Memorial Day holiday on Monday usually marks the start of the U.S. driving season. (Full Story)

“Although demand is going to pick up during the driving season, inventories are very high and supply capacities are very high so there shouldn’t be too much pressure on markets,” Spooner said.

 

MORE TENSIONS

Fighting in Ukraine and production cuts in Libya and South Sudan pushed Brent up to a 2-1/2-month high last week.

On Sunday, a decisive win for billionaire Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine’s presidential election raised hopes of political stability in Ukraine although a fraught mission to quell pro-Russian rebels and steer the fragile nation closer to the West await him. (Full Story)

“I don’t think the market really factored in any new risks in there,” CMC’s Spooner said.

Libya’s El Sharara and El Feel oilfields remain shut, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Sunday, almost two weeks after the government said protests at the western fields had ended. (Full Story)

Statoil  STL.OL said on Friday that it has resumed some production at the Snorre B platform in the North Sea. (Full Story) (Full Story)

Sabre-rattling between Iraq and Kurdistan over oil exports also heightened tensions in the region.

Iraq filed for arbitration against Turkey on Friday to stop exports of oil from Kurdistan after European markets bought the first load of oil piped from the autonomous region. Kurdistan said this was a “hollow threat” that will fail. (Full Story) (Full Story)

Sanie Khan

Sanie Khan holds a deep knowledge of the financial markets in Pakistan. Based in Karachi, he has over 20 years of hands-on management experience in financial technologies and managing operations in the financial sector. He was the General Manager at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for 17 years. He along-with senior members of Exchange

Add comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

The Canadian Securities Institute

CANADIAN SECURITIES COURSE - Inside Financial Markets

CSI is part of Moody's Analytics Learning Solutions, which offers educational programs and credentials throughout the world.

Email Newsletter

Subscribe to receive inspiration, news, and ideas in your inbox.

Inside Financial Markets was a joint publication of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)and Society of Technical Analysts Pakistan (STAP)