Oil NEWS
WTI drops to $88.80, near a weekly low amid the Fed's hawkish remarks
Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $88.80 so far on Thursday. WTI prices face some follow-through selling to nearly a weekly low of 88.60 after the Federal Reserve (Fed) held the interest rate unchanged and delivered hawkish comments on Wednesday.
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EUR/USD stays near 1.0650 after German and EU PMI data
EUR/USD continues to trade at around 1.0650 in the European session on Friday. The PMI data from Germany and the Eurozone showed a recovery in the service sector's business activity in early August, helping the Euro hold its ground.
GBP/USD trades deep in red near 1.2250 after UK data releases
GBP/USD stays on the back foot and trades deep in negative territory at around 1.2250 on Friday. Following the disappointing Retail Sales data from the UK, August PMI surveys showed that the private sector's business activity continued to contract, weighing on Pound Sterling.
USD/JPY looks to approach 148.50 on BoJ’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged
USD/JPY retraces the recent losses due to the BoJ’s decision on no-interest rate change. BoJ could consider adjusting its ultra-loose monetary policy when reaching a 2% inflation target is within reach. Investors await US data to gain valuable insights into the economic conditions in the country.
Gold rebounds but not out of the woods yet
Gold price is recovering ground from the weekly low of $1,914 ahead of a busy Friday, packed with preliminary global PMI data releases. The United States Dollar (USD) is taking a breather even though the US Treasury bond yields are setting fresh multi-year highs.
WTI drops to $88.80, near a weekly low amid the Fed's hawkish remarks
Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $88.80 so far on Thursday. WTI prices face some follow-through selling to nearly a weekly low of 88.60 after the Federal Reserve (Fed) held the interest rate unchanged and delivered hawkish comments on Wednesday.
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OIL HIGHLIGHTS
Crude oil is classified into various grades according to density (heavy vs light) and sulphur content (sour vs sweet). The lighter and sweeter the crude, the higher the price it can be sold, because refiners can produce higher yield of high quality refined products from it.
Density is measured by API gravity, a measure developed to compare the density of petroleum with water (API > 10 means the liquid floats on water) but is now widely used to compare among crude oils. API degree is inversely related to the density of crude oil. In general, crudes of API between 40-45 degrees can be sold at greatest commercial values.
Sulphur content determines the quality of a crude oil. This corrosive material decreases the purity of a crude oil. Therefore, a crude oil with high sulphur content (sour crude) should sell cheaper than one with low sulphur content (sweet crude). There are two main benchmarks for pricing Crude Oil: WTI (West Texas Intermediate) from USA and Brent from UK.
Major benchmarks
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is of very high quality. It has API gravity of 39.6 and sulphur content of 0.24% only. Its low density and low sulphur content gave it the name 'light, sweet crude' and enabled refiners to produce high yield of gasoline. Most WTI crude oil gets refined in the Midwest region of the country, with some more refined within the Gulf Coast region.
This type of crude oil is used as a benchmark in oil pricing and the underlying commodity of NYMEX's oil futures contracts. Due to its 'lightness' and 'sweetness', WTI crude is normally selling at about $1-$2/ barrel premium to Brent.
Brent is actually a blend of crude oil from 15 different oil fields the North Sea. It has API gravity of 38.3 degrees and sulphur content of around 0.37%. From these 2 parameters, we can see that Brent crude oil is heavier and less sweet than WTI crude. Brent is suitable for refinery of gasoline and middle distillates.
Brent was first traded on International Petroleum Exchange in London and then on Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) since 2005. Typically, price of Brent crude oil is around $1 lower than WTI. However, in 2007, due to the depletion of the North Sea Oil field, Brent Crude futures had traded at a premium to WTI of approximately $1 to $3 per barrel.
Oil and USD/CAD Correlation
Some of you may already be familiar with the special relationship between oil prices and the Canadian dollar. For those of you who aren't, let me fill you in on what you're missing!
There's a reason why Canadian dollar traders keep track of oil prices-- the two often move hand in hand. When oil prices move down, it's not uncommon to see the Loonie follow suit. Conversely, rising oil prices are usually accompanied by Loonie rallies. Why do these two share such a strong bond? It has a lot to do with Canada's economy.
Canada happens to be the world's seventh largest oil producer. In fact, it's the U.S.'s main supplier, as it sends about 2 million barrels of oil a day to its southern neighbor. Since Canadian dollars are needed to purchase and move oil across the border, the demand for oil tends to have a direct impact on USD/CAD price action.
It's interesting to see that aside from risk sentiment and fundamentals, oil also plays a big factor in Loonie price action. So the next time you think of trading USD/CAD, do yourself a big favor and take a peek at your oil charts. It could just give you critical insight to help you bag some Loonie pips!
Other important group of influent pairs includes: EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, USD/CHF and NZD/USD.