Market Report & Analysis for 1/24/2019 Morning Edition

Morning Market Overview

New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures nearest delivery and Intercontinental Exchange Brent futures settled lower Tuesday, pressured on data from China showing the world’s second largest economy grew at its slowest pace in 28 years in 2018 and following a downgrade in this year’s world economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund.

February West Texas Intermediate futures reversed from a $54.24 bbl six- week high on the spot continuous chart to expire down $1.23 at $52.57 bbl, and the March contract settled down $1.03 at $53.01 bbl. Markets in the United States were closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with ICE March Brent settling down $1.24 at $61.50 bbl, ending at a $0.12 premium to the April contract. Brent futures traded at a $63.15 six- week spot high on Monday.

NYMEX February ULSD futures settled down 1.49cts after reversing from a $1.9265 gallon six-week high on the spot continuous chart, with February RBOB futures tumbling 5.13cts from Friday’s five-week spot high settlement to $1.4015 gallon.

Optimism for a U.S.-China trade agreement that rallied equities and oil futures late last week was pushed aside by data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showing the Chinese economy grew at 6.6% in 2018, the slowest growth rate for the world’s second largest economy since 1990, with fourth quarter year-on-year growth at 6.4%.

The statistics show the softening economy was further battered by U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to tweet that it was time for China to make a trade deal. Top trade representatives from the United States and China will meet Jan. 30-31 in Washington, D.C.