Oil breaks the $51 mark, China showed reassuring growth in the third quarter, global stocks are mostly lower and U.K. posts upbeat jobs data. Here are four things to know in the market on Wednesday, October 19:
1. Oil Breaks the $51/barrel Mark
Oil prices were up over 1% on Wednesday on news of lower inventory. The American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday that crude inventories in the U.S. declined by 3.8 million barrels.
U.S. crude gained 1.51% to trade at $51.05 per barrel. Brent was up 1.47%, trading at $52.44 per barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release official crude inventory data later today. Analysts are expecting the report to show an increase of 2.705 million barrels.
Oil prices were also driven higher on comments from Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, who suggested that the chance of an agreement among major oil producers to reduce output was increasing.
2. China Posts Encouraging GDP Growth
China posted 6.7% GDP growth for the third quarter. The figure was in line with analyst expectations and calmed the fears of investors who were concerned the world’s second-largest economy may be slowing.
The report showed infrastructure spending was up by 19.4% and real estate investment climbed 7.1% China’s services sector rose 7.6%.
3. Global Stocks Are Broadly Lower
Global stocks were broadly lower on Wednesday. In Europe shares were lower as investors remained cautious ahead of the ECB’s policy meeting on Thursday.
Shares in Asia were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and the Australia S&P/ASX 200 both ended the day with small gains. The DJ Shanghai index, however, closed the day down 0.5%.
U.S. futures were flat as investors turned their focus to earnings reports due later today.
4. U.K. Posts Upbeat Jobs Report
The unemployment rate in Britain held steady at 4.9%, an 11-year low, according to a report from the Office of National Statistics.
The pound rallied on the news, sending the currency up over $1.23.
