The much anticipated data on Chinese demand went out on Thursday and now markets are reacting to it. US crude oil supplies are also reaching ever-higher levels and the outcome from the elections in France and Greece to the sovereign debt crisis is highlighted in the following media updates today:
- Mark Shenk of Bloomberg reports oil dropping in price on sixth consecutive day, which is the longest downtrend since almost two years. US stockpiles increased to 3.65 million barrels to the expected 2 million barrels. Greece is also struggling to form a government and has heavy scheduled debt repayments in the nearby future. This weakened the euro against the dollar; a strengthened dollar weakens demand for oil. There is also growing concern as Spanish bond returns increased above 6% and it is speculated that Spain will become the fourth country to seek bailout from the EU.
- Outlook.india.com reports from PTI that oil prices fell due to disappointing data on Chinese demand and an increase in crude oil production by OPEC. Markets are also concerned about the French and Greek elections both in which the public rejected the EU austerity measures required to solve the sovereign debt crisis.