Market Report & Analysis for 2/27/2019 Morning Edition
Morning Market Overview
Oil futures nearest delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange moved sharply lower Monday afternoon, reversing down from last week’s three-month highs in opening week trading following U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ policy aimed at tightening the global oil market. Oil futures tumbled more than 3% at market close, pressured by an early morning tweet from Trump urging OPEC to “relax and take it easy” because the “fragile” world cannot take a price hike.
Trump has not weighed in on OPEC policy of price management since early December when he unsuccessfully pushed the cartel against the production cuts, which are now in place for two months. The message comes after oil prices rallied for almost a month amid the fresh round of price-boosting output curbs from OPEC and 10 other oil producing nations. The group will meet again in mid-April to review the deal, which is scheduled to last through the first six months of 2019.
The positive that sent most financial markets higher to start the trading week was President Trump’s pronouncement that progress is being made and as such the deadline has been extended with plans in the works for a summit between the President of China and the US in the US in mid-March. All very positive and something that would have normally sent oil prices higher along with other financial markets and asset classes.
On the financial front global equity markets were mostly higher around the world pushing the overall EMI Index higher for the day. The EMI Index was higher by 0.70 percent for the day with the year to date gain at 10.9 percent.
All ten bourses in the Index are in positive territory for 2019 with London holding the worst performing spot in the Index with China in the top spot with an 18.8 percent gain for the year. The higher value direction in global equity markets was a positive price driver for the oil complex.
