The KUIK Market Update for Monday, January 18:
Stock and bond markets are closed in honor of the Martin Luther King holiday but here are some of the stories we are following:
Futures will trade until 10 am Pacific time. Crude oil is down again today. February crude is off 0.6% to $29.23 a barrel on the New York Merc. The end Iranian oil sanctions is hurting prices. Iran has said it will add 500,000 barrels a day to the already oversupplied market. However oil was up from session lows on news Oman is willling to cut production between 5% and 10% if other producers will do the same.
The Shanghai Composite finished up 0.4% at 2,913.84, after falling on Friday into bear market territory, defined as a drop of 20% or more from a recent high. The benchmark is down 17.7% so far this year. Traders attribute the gain partly to an announcement Monday that China will require foreign banks engaged in offshore yuan trading to place reserves with the central bank. The step was aimed at speculators who have been pushing the yuan lower as expectations for China’s economy sour. The offshore yuan was up 0.4%, after the People’s Bank of China fixed the yuan slighly higher.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brent-oil-taps-under-28-a-barrel-as-investors-brace-for-iran-oil-2016-01-18\
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-woes-grow-australia-japan-stocks-flirt-with-bear-market-2016-01-17?dist=lcountdown
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