Oil Prices, Asian Indexes Head Higher

Oil prices rose as much as 1 percent during Wednesday’s Asian session after OPEC reported steep production cuts in Januarys. According to a report by Reuters, Saudi Arabia announced that it would be implementing production cuts of an additional 500,000 barrels per day above what OPEC previously agreed to. On Tuesday, OPEC announced that it had succeeded in reducing production by 800,000 barrels per day in January, to 30.81 million barrels per day. Also pressuring oil prices were sanctions that U.S. President Donald Trump implemented on Venezuela’s oil exports in recent weeks, which has reduced supply from the global market. At the moment there is no sign that Venezuela’s leadership will change hands, which signals to analysts that the sanctions and related supply decrease will continue to prop up oil prices in the near term. Venezuela has been trying to find new customers for its oil, but many world leaders have declined to purchase from the struggling country because it would anger Trump.

U.S. WTI futures hit a high of $53.70 per barrel before receding slightly to $53.54 per barrel, a 0.83 percent rise, as of 2:04 p.m. HK/SIN. Brent crude futures were up 0.80 percent to $62.92 per barrel.

Asian Indexes Follow Wall Street Higher

In Asia, most major stock indexes were trading higher on Wednesday afternoon as traders found renewed optimism in the negotiations between American and Chinese trade officials. All three Wall Street indexes closed over 1 percent higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.49 percent, the NASDAQ was 1.46 percent higher and the S&P 500 gained 1.29 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 followed the trend, gaining 1.36 percent, its second consecutive day of gains. The Shanghai Composite surged 1.62 percent by the early afternoon, and the Shenzhen Composite gained 1.72 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 1.11 percent. Only Australia’s ASX 200 went against the trend, trading down 0.25 percent.

Sara Patterson
Sara Patterson has a Master’s Degree in political science and enjoys analyzing both current events and the international markets to get a fuller perspective of the currency market. Before turning to financial writing, she taught English writing skills to high-school age students. Sara’s work has been published on various financial and Forex blogs.