Oil prices jump in international market
Oil prices surged on Monday, US stock futures slid while those in Asia charged higher as investors took stock of the contrasting fortunes between the United States and the rest of the world.
The week is a busy one with a series of central bank policy meetings, including by the US Federal Reserve. It is widely expected to keep rates on hold when its meeting concludes on Wednesday.
Over the weekend the US defence secretary said the country would continue attacking Yemen’s Houthis until they ended attacks on shipping, sending oil prices sharply higher in early Asia trade on Monday as investors worried about disruptions to supply.
Brent futures were up 1.06% at $71.33 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures also jumped 1.12% to $67.94 a barrel.
“We’ve got a reemergence of those geopolitical tensions,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. “If crude oil gets much above $68.50, I think that could really start to trigger some short covering in the market.”
Also supporting oil prices were growing expectations of a revival in Chinese demand, after Beijing announced new efforts to boost consumption in the world’s second-largest economy.
China’s State Council unveiled on Sunday a slew of measures including increasing residents’ income and establishing a childcare subsidy scheme aimed at boosting domestic consumption.
That came just days after the country’s financial regulator promised to properly relax consumer credit quotas and loan terms as it offers long-term backing to make available large sums.
“In our view, there’s considerable focus on increasing both the capacity and willingness of households to consume,” said Lynn Song, ING’s chief economist for Greater China.
“We think this year’s attention to boosting consumption, combined with last year’s relatively low base, will help consumption growth recover to mid-single-digit growth in 2025. Further upside would likely hinge on a sustainable recovery of consumption.”
Investors are now awaiting a press conference later in the day by Chinese officials from the top planning agency and elsewhere for details on additional measures to enhance domestic consumption.
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The yuan was last 0.2% higher at 7.2265 per dollar in the onshore market, while its offshore counterpart gained 0.17% to 7.2268.
Separately, official data on Monday showed China’s industrial output rose a more than expected 5.9% in the first two months of the year from a year earlier, while property investment continued to be a drag.
Markets hardly reacted to the data releases, though the CSI300 blue-chip index (.CSI300), opens new tab reversed early gains to last trade 0.07% lower.
The Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC), opens new tab was still up 0.28%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (.HSI), opens new tab jumped more than 0.8%.
That helped extend early gains in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab, which last traded 1% higher at a one-week top.
Japan’s Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab advanced 1.24%.
