Oil prices surge to highest level in over a year

After spending most of Wednesday’s session in the doldrums, the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite appeared to shake off some of their gloom about resurgent Treasury yields and fuel prices, to eke out small gains, a day after falling to their lowest levels since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also attempted a late-session rally, though it fizzled, leaving the blue-chip index with a small loss. Utilities, real estate and consumer staples saw the sharpest declines, while energy, industrials and communication services outperformed the market. European equities also produced a mixed performance with the Euro Stoxx 50 registering a fractional increase while the DAX and CAC 40 indices both experienced fractional declines. 

Summary for 28.09.2023 

• Most Asian shares drifted lower on Thursday, extending recent declines amid persistent fears of higher US interest rates. Sentiment also took a hit after the Hong Kong exchange suspended shares of embattled Chinese real estate firm Evergrande. Shares in Japan and Hong declined, while mainland China equities fluctuated, and Australian shares rose.  
• European shares are set to reverse the recent negative momentum when they open on Thursday while US equity futures were little changed as we near the end of a losing month and quarter. 
• Oil prices rose sharply in Asian trade this morning, with US crude futures hitting an over one-year high as a sharp decline in US crude stockpiles exacerbated concerns about tight global supplies. Official data showed that US crude inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels last week, much more than market expectations for a 320,000-barrel draw. 
• Economic numbers released Wednesday out of the US were solid, but not enough to cut through the gloom. August durable goods data was stronger than analysts had expected, with nondefense durable orders excluding transportation rising 0.4%. Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft – a proxy for capital spending – were up 0.9% versus Wall Street’s 0.1% expectation and the highest monthly increase since January. However, there were downward revisions to July, and August is just a single month of data. 
• Bank lending to households in the Eurozone rose by 1% year-on-year in August, the least since August 2015, as a result of the continued slowdown in credit demand, which can be attributed to the European Central Bank’s unprecedented policy tightening measures implemented in recent months. Additionally, lending growth to companies slowed sharply to 0.6%, representing the lowest level since December 2015. 
• The GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for Germany fell to –26.5 heading into October from a revised –25.6 in September, missing the market forecast of –26.0. It was the lowest reading since April as the propensity to save climbed to hit its highest level since April 2011 while the gauge for income expectations and the propensity to buy remained weak. 
• Micron Technology shares fell 4% in extended hours on Wednesday after the company reported Q4 losses of $1.07 per share versus expected losses of $1.15 per share. Revenue was reported at $4.01 billion versus $3.93 billion expected. The company also forecasted Q1 2024 losses in the range of $1.00-$1.14 per share, versus expected losses of $0.90 per share, and revenues in the range of $4.2-4.6 billion versus $3.97 billion expected.