Sterling recovers some of Wednesday's losses
The pound lost ground on Wednesday as the Chancellor of the Exchequer was delivering his autumn statement.
The GBP
Like the FTSE 100, the GBP lost ground on Wednesday as the Chancellor of the Exchequer was delivering his autumn statement. New projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predict the UK economy will grow slower than previously thought for the next three years. According to the OBR, UK gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 0.6% this year, having previously predicted a decline, before growing slower than earlier forecasts between 2024 and 2026.
S&P Global CIPS
The market awaits the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data in the UK and Eurozone on Thursdaymorning. Not one measure in the UK, Germany, France, or the eurozone as a whole is expected to rise above 50 in November. In the UK, S&P Global CIPS manufacturing PMI has remained below 50 for the past 15 months and services PM for the last three months. US PMI data will be released on Friday.
OPEC+
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) has decided to delay the ministerial meeting that was originally due on Sunday, sending oil prices down. According to sources, oil producers struggled to agree on production levels and therefore had to push back the meeting to November 30. Several analysts have predicted that OPEC+ is likely to extendor even deepen oil supply cuts into next year. Members have already pledged oil output cuts of about 5 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5% of daily global demand, in a series of steps that started in late2022. This figure includes a 1 million bpd voluntary reduction by Saudi Arabia and a 300,000 bpd cut in Russian oil exports, both of which last until the end of 2023.
U.S. crude oil
U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week on higher imports, by 8.7 million barrels. Gasoline stocks rose by 750,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 1.02 million barrels. Baker Hughes, exceptionally, released its weekly data on Wednesday evening. The total rig count rose by four to 622. A rise entirely due to the number of gas rigs in operation, as oil rigs remained unchanged at 500. The total count is still 162, or 21%, below this time last year.
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