Market Close: Aug 27 Down
Aug 27th, 2020 by loren
Laura made landfall early Thursday near Cameron, Louisiana, as a Category 4 hurricane and has now weakened to a tropical storm. While the storm knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and impacted plants that produce chemicals and liquefied natural gas, southeast Texas ports and refineries — including the largest U.S. refinery — likely avoided the worst of it.
Crude futures in New York fell less than 1% on Thursday, while gasoline futures dropped more than 5%. A stronger dollar also reduced the appeal for commodities priced in the greenback.
“The damage is not as bad as anticipated, which is creating more sell pressure along the energy complex,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. “The lower price of gasoline means worse refining margins potentially, meaning that there’s not going to be a lot of incentive to use a lot of crude quickly.”
Have a Great Day,