ThinkDaily - Oil Production Cut Sparks Inflation Concerns...

On Monday, the local market closed with gains as the Top 40 increased by 0.65%, the Resources 10 sector rose by 1.09%, the Financial 15 climbed by 1.1%, and the Industrial 25 went up by 0.28%. The Rand was trading at R17.77 against the US Dollar, R22.03 against the Great British Pound, and R19.38 against the Euro.
 

In the commodities market, Brent Crude oil was trading at $85.51 a barrel, and WTI Crude oil was trading at $74.33 a barrel. Gold Spot price rose to $1981.44, while Platinum Spot price dropped to $983.51, and the Palladium Spot price was at $1462.00.



Figure 1: WTI Brent crude oil’s historical chart
 

Globally, the S&P 500 closed with a 0.37% increase, the Dow Jones rose by 0.98%, and the Nasdaq went up by 0.27%. The FTSE 100 rose by 0.54%, the DAX dropped by 0.31%, and CAC40 went up by 0.32%. The Asian markets also had mixed results, with Nikkei 225 up by 0.52%, and Heng Seng up by 0.08%.
 

Industrials Reit and Sasol were the biggest gainers on the JSE on Monday, with global markets showing mixed results. However, the Rand and other emerging-market currencies weakened due to inflation concerns arising from OPEC+'s surprise oil production cut. Brent crude rose to an intraday high of $85.32 a barrel, up by almost 8%, while the Rand weakened to an intraday low of R17.9566/$.
 

Shares in chemicals and energy group Sasol rose by 5.67%, and UK-based Industrials Reit gained 37.5% on record after receiving key terms of a possible final cash offer.


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