Source: Yahoo! Finance
November 23rd 2015
On Monday morning, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures surged into the green, after being down by about 2%, to as high as $42.75 per barrel. Brent crude also rallied nearly 2%, to about $45.73 per barrel.
The official news agency of Saudi Arabia released a statement saying the government was prepared to cooperate with other oil producers to ensure a stable market.
“The cabinet stressed the Kingdom’s role in the stability of the oil market, its constant readiness and continuing pursuit to cooperate with all oil producing and exporting countries,” the statement said.
Saudi Arabia and others in the 12-member cartel OPEC have fought to maintain market share amid exploding output from other oil producers, especially US shale drillers. The relentless pace of supply is partly what drove oil prices down 60% over the past year and a half, and what has made crude oil one of the worst-performing commodities of 2015.
Elsewhere in commodities on Monday morning, copper was barreling down towards $200 for the first time since 2009. Silver was down by more than 1%, just under $14 an ounce.
Stocks were higher but little changed in early trading, and near 10:16 a.m. ET, the Dow was up 26 points, the S&P 500 was up 4, and the Nasdaq up 17.
Shares of Allergan and Pfizer were each down about 2% following confirmation this morning that they would merge to become the world’s largest drug company, valued at $160 billion.
In economic data, Markit’s flash manufacturing PMI dropped to a two-year low of 52.6, as the strong dollar and weak global demand continued to weigh on the sector.
And, existing home sales fell more than expected in October, by 3.4% at an annual rate of 5.36 million, in a pullback from several strong months of gains and amid lower housing supply.