Yesterday, the oil futures market gained territory after the markets learned about a huge draw in crude oil and gasoline reserves.
The American Petroleum Institute reported yesterday that crude oil inventories dropped by 4.524 million barrels in the week ending August 21. The figure was over the analysts' expectations, as analysts foresaw it to fall by 3.694-million barrels. In the previous week, crude oil reserves fell below 4.264 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories also fell according to the report. Reserves dropped by 6.392 million barrels in the week ending August 21, substantially over the analysts' expectations, who foresaw them to fall by 1.533 million barrels. On the other hand, distillate inventories increased by 2.259 million barrels, after dropping by 964,000 barrels in the previous week.
The West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures advanced 1.71 percent during the session, closing at the 43.35 level. Conversely, Brent oil futures gained 1.62 percent, closing the session at the 45.86 level.
The coronavirus pandemic continues advancing around the world, infecting 24,063,894 individuals and killing 823,560. The United States leads in the number of infections, with 5,955,728 confirmed cases as well as 182,404 total deaths, followed by Brazil, India, and Russia.
The Conference Board released its Consumer Confidence Index, which fell for the second consecutive month. Sales of newly built homes surged in July, going up by 36 percent, while the Housing Price Index (month-to-month) stood at 0.9 percent.
US stock markets were mixed during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.21 percent, closing the session at the 28,248.44 level. On the other hand, the S&P 500 gained 0.36 percent during the session, closing at the 3,443.62 level, while the Nasdaq 100 advanced 0.82 percent, closing the session at the 11,721.81. In the same way, the NYSE Composite went up by 0.22 percent during the session, closing at the 13,001.99 level.
Germany's Gross Domestic Product contracted by 11.3 percent in the second quarter (in yearly terms) after going down by 2.2 percent on the previous quarter, while on quarterly terms it went down by 9.7 percent, after falling by 2 percent on the previous quarter.
August's Business Sentiment Index stood at 92.6, rising from July's figure which was at 90.4. The current assessment was at 87.9 in august, after being at 84.5 in the previous month. Business expectations stood at 97.5, after being at 96.7 in the previous month.
Recently, the German Finance Minister, Olaf Scholtz commented that Germany will come back to the pre-crisis levels at the end of 2021. He added that additional virus relief measures will probably cost around €10 billion. The newly appointed French Prime Minister announced that a recovery plan will be disclosed on September 3, adding that 2 billion Euros will be provided to the local cultural sector.
European indices mainly closed in the negative territory during yesterday's session. The CAC 40 gained 0.01 percent during the session, closing at the 5,008.27 level. On the other hand, the DAX closed at the 13,061.62 level, dropping by 0.04 percent during the session, while the IBEX 35 dropped by 0.01 percent, closing the session at the 7,108.40 level. In the same way, the Euro Stoxx 50 closed at the 3,329.71 level, dropping by 0.06 percent during the session, followed by the UK 100 which dropped by 1.12 percent, closing the session at the 976.9 level.