China’s crude oil imports hit monthly record in April - China Customs

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The latest trade balance report from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday that China imported record high oil, in an unexpected move, Reuters reports.

The China Customs noted that the surge in the Chinese oil imports is because the state-run refiners built up stocks of Iranian crude oil anticipating a sanctions clampdown.

Key Details:

Imports last month were 43.73 million tonnes, equal to 10.64 million barrels per day (bpd).

That compared with 9.26 million bpd in March and was up 11 percent from the April 2018 level, according to Reuters calculations.

China, the world’s biggest oil importer, took in 164.9 million tonnes of crude during the first four months of 2019, or about 10.03 million bpd, up 8.9 percent on the same period a year earlier.

China’s Iran crude oil imports rose to 24 million barrels or about 800,000 bpd in April, the highest since August, as buyers rushed in shipments before the U.S. sanctions waiver deadline of early May, Refinitiv data showed.”

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

GBP/USD climbs to two-day highs past 1.3200

GBP/USD picks up extra pace and surpasses the 1.3200 threshold on Thursday. That said, Cable manages to shrug off initial weakness and regain balance on the back of the fresh selling pressure hurting the Greenback.

EUR/USD stays consolidative around 1.1370

EUR/USD regains momentum and trades with modest gains around 1.1370 ahead of the opening bell in Asia. The pair sets aside three daily declines in a row and picks up pace on the back of the lacklustre performance of the US Dollar, particularly after US data failed to reinforce Fed rate hike bets.

Gold bounces from 2026 lows, remains pressured

Gold reverses part of its recent weakness on Thursday, managing to reclaim the area just above the $4,000 mark per troy ounce. The precious metal regains traction on the back of renewed selling interest in the Greenback, although expectations of rate hikes by the Fed are likely to keep buyers on the sidelines for now.

Three reasons to avoid buying Bitcoin at $60,000

Bitcoin (BTC) hovers around $62,000 on Thursday, recovering from a brief dip below $60,000 the previous day. Although dip buyers anticipate a rebound in BTC from its psychological support zone, bearish signals from the upcoming Bitcoin options expiry, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) outflows, and large-wallet investor activity warn that selling could snowball in the coming period.

Micron prints perfect, and now the chart has to answer

Memory’s biggest name just delivered the cleanest quarter of its life, and the most interesting thing about it is that the stock isn’t sure what to do with it. Micron closed out fiscal Q3 with revenue of $41.5 billion, up 346% on the year, a fifth straight record. Gross margin came in at 84.9%, up from 39% the same quarter a year ago. Earnings landed at $25.11 against a Street sitting near $20.49.

Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.