Reports by the U.S. Energy Information Administration of a reduction in U.S. crude stocks sent oil prices slightly higher on Thursday morning, helping the commodity recover steep losses suffered on Wednesday. U.S. WTI crude futures gained 12 cents on Thursday morning, to trade at $50.56 per barrel after falling 4 percent overnight, while Brent crude futures gained 15 cents per barrel to trade at $53.08 per barrel. U.S. crude stocks fell by 1 million barrels last week, fueling hope that global oversupply will be declining, despite expectations that U.S. production will continue to increase in the coming weeks.
Asian stocks followed oil prices higher on Thursday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 0.3 percent and MSCI’s broadest index of shares outside Japan up 0.1 percent as traders sought bargains following the recent selloff. Nevertheless, trading is expected to be thin throughout the day as traders wait for the outcome of the French presidential elections which will be announced this weekend. With the race proving to be extremely close, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen engaged in a fight with Brussels, highlighting his euroskeptic stance and giving traders pause as they wonder what could happen should Le Pen emerge victorious.
Traders Keep Financial Summit in View
Later today world financial leaders will be meeting in the U.S. to voice their support for open trade, a voice that contrasts the protectionist policy that Trump campaigned on. In his meetings with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, global financial leaders hope to impress upon Trump how his proposed policies would impact the global economy and to warn President Trump how his plan to reduce the U.S. trade deficit could have negative effects. Trump’s camp has already started pushing back with statements showing that other countries are more protectionist than the U.S., and hinting that Trump may opt to ignore the advice of the IMF and the World Bank.