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Summary:
Oil prices held just below recent highs.Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence issued alerts for potential danger in six cities, including the key Red Sea oil export port of Yanbu, telling residents to take shelter, before later declaring the danger had passed in all affected areas.The alerts came amid a broader increase in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.Costco has introduced purchase limits on motor oil, capping members to one transaction and a maximum of two units every seven days.Two automakers have warned of dwindling motor oil stock, raising concerns over availability for both consumer purchases and dealership service departments.China’s industrial output beat forecasts in August, while retail sales and fixed asset investment both missed and home prices kept falling, underscoring deepening imbalances in the economy.Japan’s Nikkei rebounded on a SoftBank-led bounce while South Korea’s Kospi fell as Samsung and SK Hynix extended losses, amid broader AI capex jitters.USD/JPY extended its bounce to trade above 154.80, while AUD and, more notably, NZD lost ground against the dollar, with the mixed China data cited as a factor.
Oil prices held just below recent highs on Tuesday as fresh security alerts in Saudi Arabia added to an already tense backdrop for Middle East energy supply. Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence issued alerts warning of potential danger in six cities, including Yanbu, the kingdom’s main Red Sea oil export port, telling residents to take shelter. The authority later declared the danger had passed in all affected areas. The alerts came amid a broader pickup in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, keeping the region’s energy infrastructure a focal point for traders.
Elsewhere in the oil and fuel supply chain, Costco has ramped up the price of its motor oil from $30 to to $57.99 and introduced new purchase limits on motor oil, capping members to one transaction and a maximum of two units every seven days. The restrictions land against the backdrop of a broader, well documented strain on global fuel and lubricant supply tied to Trump’s prolonged war on Iran. Separately, two automakers have warned of dwindling motor oil stock, raising concerns about availability for both consumer purchases and dealership service departments, a sign the tightness is spreading. These keep speucation of a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate hike on Wednesday well on the boil.
GOLD rose a little, towards US$4315.
On the data front, China’s industrial output beat forecasts in August, but retail sales and fixed asset investment both missed expectations, while home prices continued to fall. The mixed picture underscored deepening imbalances in the world’s second largest economy and added to the case for further stimulus.
Asian equity markets diverged along familiar lines. Japan’s Nikkei rebounded, led by a sharp bounce in SoftBank shares, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix extended losses, with both moves tracing back to unsettled sentiment around artificial intelligence capital spending.
In currencies, USD/JPY extended its bounce to trade above 154.80. The Australian dollar, and more markedly the New Zealand dollar, lost ground against the greenback, with the softer Chinese data cited as a contributing factor.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.