--Brent crude oil rose 1% to $84.51 a barrel.
--European natural gas prices fell 3.8% to EUR 53.31 a megawatt
hour.
--Gold futures edged up 0.3% to $1,890.10 a troy ounce.
--Three-month copper rose 0.9% to $8,986.50 a metric ton.
--Wheat futures rose 0.3% to $7.52 a bushel.
TOP STORY:
U.S. Crude-Oil Stockpiles Likely Increased in DOE Data, Analysts
Say
U.S. commercial crude-oil stockpiles are expected to have risen
from the previous week in data due Wednesday from the Energy
Department, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal.
The average of estimates from 10 analysts and traders showed
U.S. oil inventories are projected to have risen by 1.8 million
barrels for the week ended Feb. 3, with one analyst forecasting a
decline, eight predicting an increase, and one forecasting no
change week-on-week. Forecasts range from a decrease of 1.6 million
barrels to an increase of 3.3 million barrels.
The closely watched survey from the DOE's Energy Information
Administration is scheduled for release at 1030 a.m. EST
Wednesday.
OTHER STORIES:
Maersk Raises Dividend But Expects Earnings to Slide This
Year
A.P. Moeller-Maersk AS on Wednesday raised its dividend but
cautioned that earnings this year will plunge as the shipping
market normalizes with lower volumes caused by weakening demand and
lower freight rates.
The Danish shipping giant reported a quarterly net profit of
$4.95 billion, down from $6.09 billion, as revenue fell 3.7% to
$17.82 billion. A company-compiled consensus had seen net profit at
$4.98 billion on revenue of $19.3 billion.
Maersk said revenue at its shipping unit fell 8.8%, driven by
lower volumes and freight rates as a result of a significant
inventory correction due to weakening consumer demand, in addition
to inflationary cost pressure.
---
Anglo American Buys Canada Nickel Stake Worth $16.9 Mln
Anglo American PLC said Wednesday that it will buy a 9.9%
minority interest in Canada Nickel Co., worth around 22.6 million
Canadian dollars ($16.9 million).
The FTSE 100 mining company said that it will provide technology
expertise to the owner of the Crawford nickel project in Ontario,
Canada, and has the exclusive right to purchase up to 10% of nickel
concentrate, iron and chromium, and corresponding carbon credits
from the project.
---
TotalEnergies Boosts Shareholders Returns on Strong 2022
TotalEnergies SE boosted shareholders returns for the current
year after overall performance in 2022 benefited from strong
hydrocarbon production and gas sales despite Russia
impairments.
The French major said Wednesday that it targets an increase in
interim dividends of more than 7% to 0.74 European cents ($0.79) a
share and buybacks of $2 billion in the first quarter, confirming
that it aims for a payout of between 35%-40% for shareholders in
2023.
MARKET TALKS:
Grains Higher as Prices Balance Ahead of WASDE
0858 ET - Grain futures on the CBOT are higher in pre-market
trading, with corn up 0.1%, soybeans up 0.7%, and wheat up 0.3%.
After closing lower in yesterday's session, traders appear keen to
push grain futures back to what's roughly the middle of their
recent trading ranges -- providing them ample room to move in
either direction, depending on what today's WASDE report from the
USDA says. "The market is balanced going into the report today with
potential for a big move in either direction if there are any
surprises from the USDA," says Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in
a note. The WASDE report is due out at noon eastern time.
(kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
---
Green Plains Hit by 'Challenging' Ethanol Margins
0850 ET - Ethanol producer Green Plains says it ran up against a
'challenging' environment for producing ethanol late last year,
which included rail delays and weather-related shutdowns. Although
the company reported selling 12.3% more gallons of ethanol in 4Q
than last year, and 16.3% more for the full year of 2022 versus
2021, profit per gallon fell considerably -- down to 3 cents a
gallon, versus 20 cents a gallon in 4Q 2021. Green Plains also
attributed higher corn prices to the diminished margin, with the
continuous corn contract closing 2022 at $6.79 a bushel -- 14.5%
higher than the end of 2021. The company reported a net income of
$9.6M for 4Q. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
---
WTI Oil Rising for 3rd Consecutive Day
0836 ET - US crude prices continue a mini-rally, climbing 1.1%
to $77.96 a barrel as the market eyes a possible third consecutive
day of increases fueled by stronger gasoline and jet-fuel demand,
and declines in US inventories of crude oil. The EIA releases its
weekly report on US oil and fuel inventories at 10:30am ET, and
while a WSJ survey was forecasting a bearish, 1.8M-barrel increase
in crude stockpiles, data late yesterday from trade group API
showed a surprisingly bullish, 2.2M-barrel decline instead. But it
also showed a bearish, 5.3M-barrel rise in gasoline stockpiles.
(dan.molinski@wsj.com)
---
Natural Gas Prices Lower After 2 Days of Gains
0819 ET - Natural gas prices are back to their bearish ways this
morning, down 2.8% at $2.513/mmBtu after prices rose by 7.2% over
the past two sessions for the largest two-day gain in nearly two
months. The market is still higher for the week as it looks to end
a streak of seven straight weekly declines, though much will be
riding on tomorrow's EIA storage report. Some early predictions
point to the data showing a larger-than-normal weekly decline that
could help trim a suddenly-bloated inventory surplus compared to
historical averages. If the data confirms those predictions, the
market may avoid -- at least for now -- a drop toward sub-$2 levels
that haven't been seen since September 2020.
(dan.molinski@wsj.com)
---
Palm Oil Rises for a Third Day
1025 GMT - Palm oil ended higher in Asian trading, rising for a
third straight session. The edible oil's recent gains came amid
renewed supply concerns after Indonesia's latest export
restrictions on some palm oil products, while growing investor
expectations for slower interest-rate increases supported the
broader commodities market. But analysts warn of continued risk, as
the Fed's interest-rate path remains uncertain given
stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data. Low York Hong,
AmInvestment Bank's head of futures broking, pegs CPO futures
resistance at MYR4,050 a ton. The benchmark Bursa Malaysia
Derivatives contract for April delivery rose MYR59 to MYR3,998 a
ton. (yifan.wang@wsj.com)
---
Oil Gains After Powell Speech
0852 GMT - Oil prices edge higher thanks to a weaker dollar
following Jerome Powell's comments Tuesday. Brent crude, the
international oil benchmark, gains 0.4% to $84.00 a barrel while
WTI rises 0.5% to $77.52 a barrel as the ICE Dollar index falls
0.3%. Investors were fearing the Fed Chairman could diverge
significantly from his views on interest rates after a strong U.S.
jobs report Friday. But while Powell warned that the fight against
inflation would be long, he didn't indicate more aggressive rate
hikes, as some had feared. "He didn't choose this moment to notably
change the script post payrolls. There was some fear that he
would," Deutsche Bank says in a note. (william.horner@wsj.com)
---
Metals Higher as Fed Braces for Lasting Inflation
0839 GMT - Metal prices are moving higher, after Jerome Powell
indicated that rates are going to have to hold higher as the Fed
continues to fight inflation. Three-month copper is up 1.5% to
$9,037 a metric ton while nickel is 0.6% higher at $27,715 a ton.
Gold meanwhile is up 0.4% at $1,892.70 a troy ounce. Ed Meir,
president of Commodity Research Group, says in a note that the lack
of alarm from Powell over nonfarm payrolls reassured markets, as
did his commitment to being data dependent. "Also reassuring, was
Powell saying that many of the signs that precede typical
recessions, such as excessive leverage and asset bubbles, are
notably absent this time around, boding well for the economy and
labor markets," Meir says. (yusuf.khan@wsj.com)
Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 08, 2023 09:32 ET (14:32 GMT)
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