Yesterday, the oil markets advanced in light of the supply disruption, given the arrival of a couple of tropical storms to the Gulf of Mexico.
As the tropical storm Marco, together with another tropical storm named Laura approached the Gulf, around 57.6 percent of the oil output (the equivalent of 1.1 million barrels a day) in the zone was shut down, as well as 44.6 of the gas production.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures gained 0.42 percent during the session, closing at the 42.62 level. In addition, the Brent oil futures advanced 0.22 percent, closing the session at the 45.13 level.
The coronavirus pandemic continues advancing around the world, infecting 23,812,853 individuals and killing 817,025. The United States still leads in the number of infections, with 5,915,630 confirmed cases as well as a death toll of 181,114, followed by Brazil, India, and Russia.
President Donald Trump recently announced that he would expand the food for Families Program, which provides food to American families that have been affected by the coronavirus crisis, adding $1 billion.
“Today I am proud to announce that we will provide an additional one billion dollars to fund the Farmers to Families Food Box program,” announced Trump during a visit to a food packing plant.
According to the White House, more than 70 million boxes of food have been provided to food banks and nonprofit organizations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to buy up to $2.7 billion of food under this program by the end of the month.
Top United States and China trade officials reaffirmed their commitment to Phase 1 of the trade deal. During a call, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin committed to taking the necessary steps to guarantee the success of the agreement.
The US stock markets gained during the session. The S&P 500 gained 1 percent during the session, closing at the 3,431.28 level, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average went up by 1.35 percent, closing the session at the 28,308.46 level. In the same way, the Nasdaq 100 advanced 0.61 percent during the session, closing at the 11,626.17 level.
The European indices also posted significant gains during the session. The DAX gained 2.36 percent during the session, closing at the 13,066.54 level, while the FTSE 100 advanced 1.71 percent, closing the session at the 6,104.73 level. In the same way, the Euro Stoxx 50 advanced 2.21 percent during the session, closing at the 3,331.74 level.