Crude-oil prices jumped Wednesday following a report by Reuters that the OPEC cartel of oil-producing nations may consider a new oil-production ceiling at its meeting on Thursday.
West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures later shed gains, and they were down by less than 1% in late-morning trading in New York after the headline crossed. Futures climbed to as high as $48.89 a barrel. Brent crude also rose on the news then slipped.
A meeting of OPEC ministers is scheduled Thursday in Vienna and chances of any type of consensus for the reduction of oil production is negligible. Last April’s meeting met with failure when Saudi Arabia refused to accept a deal without Iran’s agreement to cut back its oil exports. It might try to patch up its relationship with the other OPEC members at Thursday’s gathering.
ADP Payroll Numbers
Traders will be watching the OPEC meeting as well as other markers for signals on how markets are headed. The private sector ADP payroll report will be out in the U.S. on Thursday and although it is not always indicative of the real job market numbers, traders will be reading the numbers carefully.
The government's jobs report will be released on Friday and 175,000 jobs are expected for May from ADP, while 162,000 nonfarm payrolls are expected in the government report Friday.
ECB Meets
Also meeting in Vienna is the European Central Bank and traders are waiting to hear President Mario Draghi’s comments at a press conference afterwards. The ECB is not expected to take action at its meeting, but may offer clues to what the central bank will do next which will most likely stem from oil. There is also a chance of Draghi may announce the first rise in the ECB’s projections on inflation since before its bond buying began in March 2015.