Oil upticks after Saudi announcement

The most notable event came in the form of the Saudi Press Agency, who said that the government would do all it could to ensure price stability in the oil markets. An immediate uptick was seen in WTI and Brent, which helped bolster CAD and RUB. The OPEC meeting is on December the 4th, this release seems to be hinting that they may limit production. It’s a policy that some of its members, most notably Venezuela, have been calling for some time and would inevitably lead to higher benchmark crude prices and thus bolster commodity prices further.

The implications of this could be far reaching, but be particularly salient for the ECB, as the low price of oil has weighed upon inflation. With low inflation the key driving factor key for whether or not it will expand its QE program. If further reports echo these statements from Saudi Arabia, then the ECB may be inclined to believe that inflation will increase in the coming years and may not expand QE to the level that they may have done otherwise.

As the EUR/USD strengthened amid the possibility of an OPEC cut in production, USD/JPY traded lower as yields softened around the Wall Street open but remains in positive territory.

Looking ahead, tomorrow sees the release of the Bundesbank releases Financial Stability Report, German IFO, German and US GDP, Fed Discount Minutes, comments from ECB's Costa, Villeroy and Mersch, BoE's Carney, Vlieghe, Forbes and Haldane.