Crude oil prices rallied in reaction to data that showed new coronavirus cases in China falling for a second day
โดยทีมวิเคราะห์ตลาดต่างประเทศ บริษัท ปตท. จำกัด (มหาชน)
- China is widely expected to cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday, after the country’s central bank lowered the interest rate on medium-term loans earlier this week. The People's Bank of China slashed the interest rate on its 1-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) on Monday to 3.15%.
- China reported a dramatic drop in new cases of the COVID-19 in its Hubei province on Wednesday, with 349 new confirmed cases which was down from 1,693 a day earlier and lowest since January 25. The death toll increased by 108, which was lower than 132 from the previous day. In total, China now has over 2,100 deaths and 74,000 cases of infection.
- The latest U.S. sanctions on Russian Rosneft's trading arm, which are meant to further curb Venezuela’s crude exports, are expected to disrupt and shift global crude flows, as refineries change where they source crude oil. On Tuesday, the Trump administration barred U.S. dealings with Rosneft Trading S.A. which Washington accuses of handling Venezuelan crude oil and providing a financial lifeline to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The measure explicitly prohibits U.S. companies from dealing with Rosneft Trading after a 3-month wind-down period.
- Late on Wednesday, industry group the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.16 mil bbls last week, with stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub higher by 421,000 bbls.