Oil prices rose on Thursday to the highest level in nearly a month, after jumping 5% in the previous session, driven by increased demand forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC as major economies recover from the pandemic. Brent crude was up by 16 cents at $66.74 a barrel by 0659 GMT, after reaching $66.94 earlier, the highest since March 18, and gaining 4.6% on Wednesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 12 cents to $63.27 a barrel, earlier rising to $63.48, also the highest since March 18. ...

Oil is unlikely to hit $100 per barrel on a sustainable basis in the near future, according to experts at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), a prestigious UK-based think tank. In a report prepared by Bassam Fattouh and Andreas Economou of the OIES, the likelihood of an imminent oil “supercycle” — suggested by some commodities analysts — is downplayed because of the absence of key factors that might spark a surge in the price of crude. “Some key triggers of an oil supercycle, such as an inelastic supply ...

China, the US and the Middle East are leading the way in global refinery growth, while much of Europe “remains under pressure from lockdowns amid a worsening COVID crisis”, the International Energy Agency said April 14. The agency noted that the “first indications” of year-on-year growth have started to emerge. Global refinery throughput in March rose month on month, led by a “strong recovery in the US following February’s freeze,” but remained lower year on year, the IEA said. In March, global runs increased by almost 1 million b/d month ...

European stocks hit a record high on Thursday as a rally in commodity prices lifted miners, while some positive earnings reports offset worries about the pace of COVID-19 vaccination. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.4% in its third session of gains, with miners leading the rise. Travel & leisure stocks hit a record high earlier in the session. UK’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 outperformed as a surge in metals prices lifted shares of companies such as Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP. [MET/L] While European stocks have recovered all ...

The U.S. dollar sank to a four-week low against other major currencies on Thursday as Treasury yields pulled back from last month’s surge, with investors increasingly convinced the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low for some time. The Russian rouble sank more than 1% to 76.65 per dollar on reports the U.S. will announce sanctions on Russia as soon as Thursday for alleged election interference and malicious cyber activity. The dollar index, which tracks the it against six other currencies, dipped to its lowest since March 18 at 91.535 ...

Euro zone citizens expect the European Central Bank’s proposed digital euro to be private, safe and cheap, an ECB survey showed on Wednesday. The ECB is working on creating an electronic form of cash to complement banknotes and coins in a bid to stem competition from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Tether and Facebook’s proposed Diem. An ECB poll showed that privacy when making payments, a key feature of cash that some fear will get lost when switching to an electronic means of payment, was the number one priority for both ...

Asia’s economy is expected to grow by 7.6 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday, while warning of “huge uncertainty” surrounding the projections. “The pandemic has resulted in unprecedented output losses in the Asia-Pacific region,” Jonathan D. Ostry, acting director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, said during a virtual news conference. The pandemic is receding in some countries, elsewhere, “second or third waves of infections are raging,” notably in India and some of the ASEAN economies, he noted, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian ...

The struggles of policymakers in North America and Europe to comprehend the transformation of the world economy and its shift to Asia in recent decades have led to a distorted picture of global change. Most of the analysis published in Europe and North America treats Asia as a relatively small, albeit fast-growing, component of a global system dominated by the countries around the North Atlantic. But if that characterisation were true in 1990, it is no longer an accurate description of the distribution of world economic activity in 2021, and ...

Although COVID-19 plunged the global economy into the worst recession since World War II, clear signs of recovery have emerged. China began leading the way by pocketing positive growth in 2020 after bringing the epidemic under control. The U.S. and European countries initiated a bid for economic rebound via aggressive stimulus measures. According to the forecasts of leading financial institutions, the pandemic’s impact on the world economy may not be as severe as expected. Nevertheless, in the long run, both COVID-19 and the subsequent stimulus and relief policies adopted may ...

The global economy could grow half a percentage point faster next year if households spend some of the huge savings they built up during the coronavirus pandemic, a French economic think-tank said. With businesses such as restaurants, cinemas and hotels still closed in many countries, many households in developed countries have accumulated far greater savings than normal. Whether households start spending these savings or sit on them in anticipation of financial challenges ahead is one of the biggest puzzles facing economists and policymakers as they try to figure out how ...

Women now hold many of the jobs controlling the world’s largest economy – and they’re trying to fix it. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and trade czar Katherine Tai hold top jobs in U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and many of his economic advisers also are women, as are nearly 48% of his confirmed cabinet-level officials. This sea change may already be affecting economic policy – a new $2.3 trillion spending plan introduced by Biden last week includes $400 billion to fund the “care economy,” supporting home- ...

Post-Brexit trade rules mean prosecco supplier Serena Wines 1881 must store bottles destined for Britain on costlier, fumigated pallets in their own corner of its warehouse in the northeast Italian town of Conegliano. The new shipment requirement is one example of the extra cost and complexity that firms across continental Europe face serving British customers since Jan. 1, adding to disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic to drive UK-EU trade volumes lower. “These first months have been hectic, hellish for everyone,” said export manager Nicola Piovesana. “Delivery times are now longer, ...

Freight for the Americas interregional Panamax routes is poised to remain at highs not seen since May 2020, after a flurry of activity tightened the tonnage list the week ended April 9 and boosted freight for the 50,000 mt East Coast Mexico-US Gulf Coast route 41.36% from a low of $6.77/mt, or Worldscale 145. Sources attributed the spike in freight to a number of cargoes set to load or discharge at ports with ship-size restrictions, which prevented charterers from turning to the larger and cheaper Aframaxes instead. ATMI tested freight ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities, ticked higher on Wednesday on higher activity across vessel segments. The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, gained 38 points, or 1.8%, to 2,178, its highest level since March 26. The capesize index inched up nine points, or 0.3%, to 3,151 – its strongest since mid-January. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes of coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore, were up $76 at $26,131. ...

The Ever Given, the containership that was stuck in the Suez Canal in March, has been arrested by Egyptian authorities over non-payment of a claim of around $916 million, maritime insurance, shipping agent and broker sources said April 14. The ship and its crew were arrested by Suez Canal authorities, pending settlement of the claim, sources said. Neither Shoei Kisen — the ship’s Japanese owner — nor the Suez Canal Authority were available for comment. The SCA’s claim against Shoei Kisen includes $300 million as a salvage bonus and $300 ...