Commentary: Focus for oil is on inventory, jobs data - Chron.com (blog)
Prices had already spent yesterday getting stomped on all day, before the API released its report, revealing a surprise 7. 6 million barrel build versus the expectation for a minor 0. 8 mb draw. With last week’s EIA report yielding a significant draw of 5. 5 mb, it appears we may see a correspondingly significant build this morning. Overnight we had further evidence of the ripple effect of a weakening Chinese economy, as Australia’s economy only expanded by 0. 2% in Q2, below consensus of 0. 4%. China is Australia’s biggest trade partner. Yesterday afternoon’s release of light vehicle sales showed an annualized 17. 8 million cars and trucks were sold in the US last month, the highest level since 2005. Financing incentives and lower fuel costs are attributed as the main reasons for... This is key ahead of Nonfarm Friday because there is a strong historical relationship betwixt the unemployment rate and vehicle sales (talked about here ). rising vehicle sales point to falling unemployment. The ADP report, which tries to steal the thunder from Nonfarm Friday, was just released and has indicated that 191k jobs were created in August, shy of consensus of 201k, with a downward revision to last month’s number to boot. Source: fuelfix.com
