- Oil rallies after Libya news.
- Indices open higher but struggle to gain momentum.
- Cable (GBP/USD) starts the week on the back foot.
Equities in Asia started the week higher after another record close on Wall Street on Friday but only just. There was very little macro news flow over the weekend to keep the fire alight, but no news is good news as far as equities are concerned. After the open in the EU however, the German Dax (0.13%) and FTSE 100 (0.07%) pushed lower.
The main story of the weekend came from commodities markets. Libya announced that around 800K barrels per day were coming off the oil markets due to talks over the civil war. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) stated two big oilfields in the southwest had begun shutting down after forces loyal to the Libyan National Army closed a pipeline. WTI (USOIL) trades around 0.41% higher just below the $60.00/bbl level.
GBP/USD was pushed lower at the start of the week after comments from Chancellor Sajid Javid seemed to point to the fact that the UK may break some EU rules. He said that the UK might ditch some EU rules after Brexit and business must get ready.
Gold has also started the week higher and trades above the pivotal $1557.10/oz level at $1560.41/oz. This comes as risk sentiment is slightly shaky at the beginning of the trading week.
Not too much going on with copper this morning as the base metal trades 0.16% higher at $2.83/lb.
Today we will be looking out for comments from ECB's Lagarde and remember the US markets are closed for MLK day.
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