Market Close: Nov 21 Up
Nov 21st, 2014 by loren
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Crude-oil futures got a big bump Friday after thePeople’s Bank of China announced a surprising swath of interest-rate cuts intended on boosting its economy. In a surprise move Friday, the People’s Bank of China cut its one-year deposit rate by 0.25 percentage point, and its one-year loan rate by 0.4 percentage point. It also said that it will allow more flexibility in deposit rates. The moves rise hopes that the country will increase its consumption of industrial materials and oil.
Ahead of that, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signalled that the central bank was ready to step up asset-buying, also igniting hopes for the euro zone economy — and oil demand more broadly. “And crude’s emphatic rally has been ignited by the fumes of stimulus,” quipped Matt Smith, an analyst with Schneider Electric. “The first interest rate cut by China since 2012 is combining with stimulus measures in the Eurozone to rally crude prices into the weekend.”
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January rose 66 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $76.51 a barrel. On the week, crude gained 0.9%, snapping a seven-week losing streak. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange gained $1.03, or 1.3%, to end at $80.36 a barrel. On the week, Brent gained 1.2%, ending an eight-week losing stretch.
Gains won’t last: Some say there isn’t much to alter the downbeat views on oil prices. “This is just a short-term reaction and will not change the bearish view unless OPEC cuts output substantially next week (rather unlikely),” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. Traders have been reluctant to make new commitments ahead of the OPEC summit on Nov. 27, analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures said. There’s growing confidence that OPEC will take action to cut some supply at next week’s meeting.