Growth of stock indices stalled
US currency continued strengthening on Monday while stock indices fell. The economic policy of new US President which implies industrial stimulus may lead to higher inflation.
Banking and mining stocks advanced
European stock indices edged higher on Monday while euro continued falling. STOXX Europe Mining index rose 2.2% as metal prices rise on expectation of new stimulus measures for US industry from Trump.
Nikkei continues advancing
Nikkei went on rising on Monday as yen fell lower and on positive GDP and industrial production data. It edged lower on Monday due to profit taking. Since the US presidential elections, Nikkei has advanced almost 9%. Markets believe weaken yen will improve financial statement of Japanese exporters. Housing loans data for Q3 will come out in Japan on Wednesday morning.
Natural gas prices rose on cold weather in US
Natural gas prices advanced 5% in US on forecasts of cold weather. This week gas consumption is expected to rise to 76.8bn cubic feet this week from 73bn a week earlier. Next week the consumption is to reach 85.3bn cubic feet a day. Average US production for recent 30 days was just 70.2bn cubic feet a day. Active gas rigs count fell in US by 2 units last week to 115 units, according to Baker Hughes. Number of shale rigs fell by 2 to 457 units.
Oil prices unexpectedly rose after Energy Minister of Saudi Arabia said OPEC members almost reached a deal on oil production freeze for November 30, 2016. Qatar, Algeria and Venezuela are the most strong advocates for that. Moreover, U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) expects the US shale oil production to contract in December by 20 thousand barrels a day to 4.5mln barrels a day. This is the lowest volume since April 2014 when Brent price was around $106 per barrel.