Futures, Crude Unchanged Ahead Of Draghi As Parabolic Move In Steel, Iron Ore Continues
By Tyler Durden
One day after stocks were this close from hitting new all time highs on what have been either ok earnings, if looking at non-GAAP data, or atrocious earnings, based on GAAP, and where any oil headline is now immediately translated as bullish by the oil algos, so far futures are relatively flat, while European stocks were at their moments ago in anticipation of the latest ECB announcement due out in just one hour. However, unlike last month’s “quad-bazooka”, this time the market expects far less from Draghi.
“Having pulled put the monetary bazooka in March, the market is sensibly expecting no further policy measures from the ECB,” said Michael Ingram, a market strategist at BGC Partners in London. “Investors are understandably reticent in making big bets ahead of what is on paper, likely to see policy makers firmly on hold.”
Draghi will come and go, but attention will remain on oil and all other commodities, where the Bloomberg Commodity Index headed for a five-month high, spurred by gains from metals to soy beans, and weighing on government bonds.
Nowhere was the ongoing surge more obvious than in the construction complex, where steel reinforcement bars jumped to a 19-month high in Shanghai, buoyed by an improving Chinese property market, supporting the Australian dollar. As seen on the chart below, both iron ore and steel have gone parabolic this year despite, as reported previously, China’s increase in steel output to record highs. “You’ve got a tight market, you’ve got momentum, and you’ve got this fundamental driver for steel in the government boosting the infrastructure and housing side of things,” Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Ltd. in Melbourne told Bloomberg. “The rebar price is really leading the iron ore price at the moment.”
Following yesterday’s latest surge in oil which saw WTI overtake the “Gartman doomsday” level of $44, it has since leveled off while Brent fluctuated near $46 a barrel after data showed U.S. production slipped and Iraq said talks to freeze output may occur next month.
Commodity gains boosted the outlook for inflation, sending German bund yields to a four-week high. Sweden’s krona rose after the Riksbank expanded bond buying less than some investors expected. Metal increases boosted European miners, while most industries on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined.
“The rally in commodities is making people a bit more positive,” Robin Bhar, an analyst at Societe Generale SA in London, told Bloomberg. “The base metals are gaining on a view that the industrial cycle is strengthening. There’s broad-based buying in commodities, and that suggests that sentiment is starting to turn. This would have drifted across into mining shares and energy stocks.”
Meanwhile in stocks, Europe’s Stoxx 600 slipped 0.5%, after closing at its highest level since January. Miners in the gauge are heading for six-month high. Carmakers rallied, boosted by a 5.1 percent jump in Volkswagen AG after a person familiar with the matter said it agreed to set aside at least $10 billion to resolve civil claims by …read more
Source: Futures, Crude Unchanged Ahead Of Draghi As Parabolic Move In Steel, Iron Ore Continues
