Wednesday: 5 Things The Markets Are Talking About

Nobody knows where oil’s going next, China set to double yuan trading hours, and U.K. third-quarter GDP misses expectations. Here are some of the things that people in markets are talking about today.

1. Oil

WTI for February delivery increased as much as 42 cents to $36.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $36.46 as of 10:55 a.m. London time. In recent days, the spread between WTI and Brent has closed to almost zero while options traders bet on oil falling to as low as $15 a barrel in 2016. This morning OPEC released its latest World Oil Outlook in which they see demand falling through 2020, but less than previously forecast. Their projections assume oil will rise to an average of $80 a barrel by 2020. Low oil prices are really starting to bite across oil-producing nations, with Venezuela and Canada being hit particularly hard.

2. China extends yuan trading

Chinese authorities announced they will double the yuan’s onshore trading hours from January as it prepares for the currency’s addition to the IMF reserve basket next year. Chinese equities, which suffered the biggest-ever destruction of their stock-market value during the mid-year crash, did pretty well for those that bought early and held on, with the Shanghai Composite Index rallying 13 percent in 2015. One of the few forecasters to predict the equity boom and bust is warning of more risks to China’s markets in 2016.

3. U.K. GDP

Third-quarter GDP in the U.K. rose 0.4 percent, less than the 0.5 percent forecast, and GDP growth in the second quarter was revised down as fears grow over a loss of momentum in that economy. A Bloomberg survey of economists said the two biggest risks facing the U.K. economy in 2016 are Brexit and Brexit.

4. Hedge fund winners

In a year where hedge funds suffered some dismal performances, a handful of multibillion-dollar firms including Blackstone Group LP, D.E. Shaw Investments LP, Millennium Partners LP, and Citadel have managed to post double-digit returns. During 2015 energy bets were the hardest hit, with some of the worst distressed debts losing over 80 percent.

5. Holiday break

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.