Oil prices continue to hover near to 2014 level following supply disruptions and strong demand. This week has been quite eventful for the oil industry: it all started with Yemen’s Houthi group attacking the UAE, then followed up with an incident on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. All of these, together with Russia, the world’s second oil-producing country, enlarging military presence next to Ukrainian borders, build-up concerns regarding stable oil supply.
China eased monetary policy to boost economics. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was lowered 10 basis points to 3.70%. Reacting to this, Asian stocks finished its five-day decrease although European and American stocks have been showing depressive trends recently This caused Shenzhen Component to increase 0.01% and the Hang Seng index by 1.80%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 has also jumped 0.57%.
The price of Brent crude is $88.10, WTI — $85.60