On Thursday, the 19th of December 2019, a thin pre-Christmas trading day in the global financial market had witnessed both Brent and US crude oil futures’ prices spearing towards their highest level in three months over optimisms of a surprise US crude inventory decline reported by IEA (International Energy Administration) on yesterday (December 18th), while a continued easing of Sino-US trade tension added to a further buoyant wave to investors’ optimism.
In point of fact, Thursday’s (December 19th) crude oil rally was almost entirely galvanized by a China decision to suspend US import tariffs which were scheduled to take effect on December 15th, meanwhile US Treasury’s Mnuchin’s upbeat trade remarks that US and China were set to stamp a trade deal by early January overshadowed demand concerns despite a number of global economic majors muddling in to a recession, however growing debates over a lack of transparency on a Sino-US interim trade deal capped gains.
Meanwhile, cautioning crude oil prices could lose momentum unless US and Chinese officials proffered a concrete detail regarding their efforts to reach a full-fledged trade agreement, a Vice President of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, Gene McGillian said on Thursday’s (December 19th) market wrap-up, “Unless we get real granularity, the uncertainty around what’s happening on the trade front will start to add more resistance.
We need to see signs that a real resolution is at hand. ” Citing statistics, on Thursday’s (December 19th) market wrap-up, Brent crude oil futures’ winded down the day 0.65 per cent higher at $66.57 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate Crude futures added 0.33 per cent to settle down at $61.05 per barrel, extending their gains for the sixth straight session in a row.
