Written on: October 3, 2023
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Energy futures are on course to fall for a fourth consecutive session amid further weakness in equities and further strength in the US dollar. Market traders are looking ahead to the US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for August on an otherwise quiet day on the economic calendar.
In the news this morning, Russian news agency Interfax says that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Novak has said there is no time frame for the ban Russia implemented on the exportation of fuel on September 21st. According to TASS news agency, Novak stated that the Russian government plans to cap increases in pump prices at the general level of consumer price inflation. Russian retail gasoline and diesel prices were up by 9.9% and 11.3% year-on-year as of September 25th.
The Nikkei sold off 1.64% and the Hang Seng tumbled 2.69% lower last night, while the Shanghai exchange remained closed for a holiday. The Nikkei/S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for India came in at 57.5 for September, falling from 58.6 in August but continuing to indicate a strong expansion in the sector. European shares were trading flat to lower this morning with the FTSE 100 steady in the UK while the German DAX and French CAC 40 had both lost 0.6%. In the US, futures for the Dow were off by 0.3%, S&P 500 futures had shed 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures were down by 0.5%. Also unsupportive for crude, the US dollar had appreciated by 0.2% against a basket of currencies, pushing the dollar index to fresh multi-month highs.
Brent crude futures fell by $1.49 to close at $90.71 a barrel, WTI crude futures dropped $1.97 lower to settle at $88.82 a barrel, gasoline futures edged up 1.27 cents to settle at $2.4122 per gallon, heating oil dropped 7.81 cents lower for a settlement of $3.2225 per gallon, natural gas futures fell by 8.9 cents to settle at $2.840 per MMBTU.
As of this morning, the latest 1-5 day outlook based on the European model calls for above-normal temperatures across the eastern half of the country, with higher chances for above-normal temperatures in the Northeast. The 6-10 day outlook sees mixed temperatures near the Great Lakes and mostly below-normal temperatures for the eastern third country, save for parts of northern New Hampshire and Maine.