Oil prices were mixed on Sunday, on fears of oversupply as the OPEC+ coalition is set to ease its supply cuts this month.
Reuters recently released a survey that shows July oil output increased after Gulf countries decided to stop abiding by their voluntary supply cuts. According to the estimations, 23.32 million barrels per day were produced in average in June, up by 970,000 barrels per day from the previous month's figure.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures went down by 0.25 percent during the session, closing at the 40.17 level. On the other hand, Brent oil futures advanced by 0.35 percent, closing the session at the 43.45 level.
The coronavirus pandemic continues advancing around the world. There are currently 18,236,624 confirmed cases, as well as a death toll of 692,822. The United States leads in number of infections, confirming 4,813,647 cases and reporting 158,365 total deaths, followed by Brazil, India, and Russia.
The debate on the US stimulus bill is currently stalled, which is concerning considering that the extra $600 per week in assistance for the unemployed expired last week and that the US lawmakers are about to enter on a recess period. The main disagreement between the Republican and the Democrat party is on the extra unemployment assistance, which according to the Democrats should be left at $600 per week while the Republicans propose to lower it to $200 per week.
The US stock markets closed last week on the positive territory after tech shares rallied and despite the weak U.S. economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.44 percent on Friday's session, closing at the 26,428.32 level, while the S&P 500 gained 0.77 percent, closing the session at the 3,271.12 level. Conversely, the Nasdaq 100 went up by 1.78 percent, closing the session at the 10,905.88 level.
In Euro news, the European stock markets dropped during Friday's session. The DAX went down by 0.54 percent, closing the session at the 12,313.36 level, while the FTSE 100 lost 1.54 percent during the session, closing at the 5,897.76 level. Conversely, the Euro Stoxx 50 went down by 1.06 percent on Friday's session, closing at the 3,174.32 level, while the IBEX 35 dropped by 1.70 percent, closing the session at the 6,877.40 level.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Cabinet Office released its quarterly Gross Domestic Product figure on Sunday, which stood at -0.6 percent. during the first quarter of the year, remaining in line with the analysts' estimations. The annualized figure showed a drop of 2.2 percent. Many estimate that the economy shrank by 20 percent or more in the second quarter, the biggest drop ever registered.
The Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday. The Nikkei 225 went down by 2.82 percent during the session, closing at the 21,710.00 level, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.71 percent, closing the session at the 3,310.01 level.