Dollar is on track for the longest weekly winning streak since 2014

The US dollar

The USD is on track to post its eighth consecutive weekly gain, its longest winning streak since 2014. After two weeks of respite, the CNY has been declining throughout the week. Disappointment Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), Exports dwindling for a fifth straight month, USD/CNH has now broken the recent highs of mid-August. Next target: October 2022 highs.

Japan's economy overview

Japan's economy grew less than initially thought in the second quarter. Japan's economy grew by 1.2% quarter-on-quarter, below estimates of 1.3%. Annualised growth reached 4.8%, down from a preliminary estimate of 6% growth and below market forecasts for a 5.5% expansion. The main factor behind the downgrade was a 1% drop in capital expenditure, compared with a preliminary flat reading.

US wholesale inventories

On the other side of the Atlantic, US wholesale inventories are forecast to fall by 0.1% in July compared to June, and in Canada, the unemployment rate is expected to rise to 5.6% in August.

Chevron

Chevron's talks with the Australian union have ended without a deal, and LNG workers have started striking, potentially disrupting LNG output from facilities that account for over 5% of global supply. Unions have said that a two-week total strike could follow if an ongoing dispute over wages and conditions remained unresolved.

Crude oil

The Energy Information Administration (ElA) crude oil inventories confirmed Application Programming Interface (API) data was released earlier this week. Crude oil stocks fell by 6.3 million barrels last week after a 10 million-plus drop the previous week. Gasoline stocks also fell, while distillate inventories showed a small rise. Oil prices declined a little on Thursday but remain near their 10-month high, as supply concerns have recently pushed prices up.

Oil analysts await Baker Hughes rig count. Since the start of this year, the number of operational rigs has been in almost constant decline. Last Friday, the total rig count fell by one, taking the total rig count down to 631. The number of active oil rigs remained at 512.