The oil industry has remained pressurized by a supply glut and the ongoing uncertainty on the demand outlook with respect to the structural changes in the energy market and the pandemic. The recent vaccine updates and hopes that the pandemic may soon be under control, is providing support to a fundamentally battered energy market. As the year comes to an end, oil traders were eyeing OPEC and its allies’ commitments to production cuts for direction.

The 12 th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was initially delayed as OPEC+ needed more time to reach a deal which kept the oil traders on edge. After tough negotiations, the meeting concluded on a positive note on Thursday: The Meeting reaffirmed the continued commitment of the participating countries to a stable market. The Meeting emphasized that it was vital that participants, and all major producers, remain fully committed to efforts aimed at balancing and stabilizing the market.

It noted that renewed lockdowns, due to more stringent COVID-19 containment measures, continue to impact the global economy and oil demand recovery, with prevailing uncertainties over the winter months. In light of the current oil market fundamentals and the outlook for 2021, the Meeting agreed to reconfirm the existing commitment from 12 April 2020, then amended in June and September 2020, to gradually return 2 mb/d, given consideration to market conditions. Beginning in January 2021, participating countries decided to voluntary adjust production by 0.5 mb/d from 7.7 mb/d to 7.2 mb/d.

OPEC and its allies expect stockpiles to fall in the first quarter by delaying the return on supply compared to the original plan. Crude oil prices firmed higher buoyed by the compromise deal despite this week’s bearish oil reports: The United States EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change registered at -0.679M above expectations (-2.358M) on November 27. API reported a much larger-than-expected inventory level of 4.146M.

As of writing, WTI Crude oil (Nymex) and Brent Crude (ICE) were trading at around $46.40 and $49.67 respectively and the US oil is poised to post its fifth weekly gain. The vaccine updates and OPEC deal have helped the crude oil prices to pare majority of the losses seen during COVID March lows. Source: GO MT4

On 8 March 2020, Saudi Arabia initiated an oil price war with Russia, triggering a rout in the oil market at a time where the world is facing a pandemic and many countries forced to shut down their activities and borders. Crude oil prices have lost nearly half of their prices, battled by a simultaneous demand and supply shock. Last Thursday, President Trump tweeted about expectations of substantial production cuts, which has lifted hopes that OPEC and its allies will intervene to bring some stability in the oil and gas industry.

The Blame Game Delayed the OPEC meeting President Trump’s actions resulted in an emergency OPEC meeting which was initially scheduled to take place on Monday. Over the weekend, the rift seemed to have widened as Russia dragged Saudi Arabia into the hostilities against the US Shale oil industry. The blame game has caused the meeting to be postponed which is “likely” going to take place on Thursday.

Multilateral Support Needed Unprecedented measures are needed to tackle an unprecedented crisis. Are we going to see an alliance of oil producers other than OPEC+? A supply glut and weak demand have sent prices into a freefall, which is prompting growing calls of a multilateral commitment of oil producers to regularise the oil market.

Among all the noises currently in the oil industry, traders need to pay particular attention to key factors: Russia and Saudi Arabia Market participants will need to monitor whether Russia and Saudi Arabia are willing to look passed the blame game and go back to the negotiable table. The first calming factor will be that both oil producers are able to resolve their differences and start a dialogue to cut oil production. The US to Join Efforts It is clear that for the interest of all producers, the efforts should not only come from OPEC+ members.

Ever since the US President tweeted about the hopes of a truce between Saudi Arabia and Russia, the US has been under increased pressure to join global forces in cutting production amid crashing oil prices. EIA Reports The US Energy Information Administration slashed its expectations for US crude oil production by more than 1 million barrels - a day ahead of the much-awaited meeting. Despite the projected cuts by the EIA, the US is still expected to formally commit to production cuts.

It appears to be the decisive factor that will restore peace in the industry. G20 Meeting It is reported that the G20 group of leading world economies will meet on Friday to host an emergency meeting with energy ministers. The aim of the meeting will focus on bringing nations together in an effort to stablilise the world energy markets.

Dual Meeting The OPEC meeting followed by the G20 meeting could be a turning point for the oil and gas industry. Global efforts by OPEC+ members along with other key members, including the US, Canada and Brazil, among others, are key in bringing back confidence at a time where the oil market is facing the brunt of a pandemic. Saudi Arabia has delayed setting May delivery prices of oil in anticipation that the meeting will end in a net positive.

As of writing, we note that President Trump stated that he was not asked to participate in cutting production but “may” consider such a scenario if it would help to resolve the international disputes. As the week comes to an end, attention will remain fixated on the upcoming meetings and any developments that will help investors to gauge the thinking of oil producers.

An election-driven month With just a few days to month's end, the dynamics driving markets have changed compared to a few weeks ago. Risk sentiment was sliding under the influence of politics, mostly by the uncertainty around the US Presidential Election. More recently investors have breathed a sigh of relief on a series of positive vaccine updates, despite continued uncertainties.

Global equities The election mayhem and a probable contested election, the gridlock in Congress, another wave of lockdowns, Brexit and vaccines updates were the same predominant themes driving the stock market this month. Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca issued statements of the progress of the vaccines trials boosting global equities: Pfizer and BioNTech They provided two main updates across the month. After announcing a 90% efficacy rate, they conduct the final efficacy analysis in their ongoing Phase 3 study, and their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate met all the study’s primary efficacy endpoints.

The analysis of the data indicates a vaccine efficacy rate of 95%. Moderna The Phase 3 study met the statistical criteria with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. AstraZeneca The positive high-level results from an interim analysis of clinical trials of AZD1222 in the UK and Brazil showed the vaccine was highly effective in preventing COVID-19, the primary endpoint, and no hospitalisations or severe cases of the disease were reported in participants receiving the vaccine.

There was a total of 131 COVID-19 cases in the interim analysis. After the recent promising vaccine updates, investors shifted from high-flying tech stocks into cyclical stocks on the hopes of a quicker economic reopening than initially expected. Source: Bloomberg Terminal A contested election, stimulus gridlock and more lockdowns The US sharemarket is faced with a Joe Biden Presidency and a Republican Senate and the reassurance that there might not be a major shift in policies given the gridlocked Congress.

However, investors remained cautious and wary given the uncertainties on the stimulus relief package and the ramping efforts of President Trump claiming fraud at the 2020 election. In a pandemic-induced environment where the lack of timely fiscal support from the government is heavily impacting the economy and the level of confidence in the markets, the refusal of President Trump to coordinate transition efforts with President-elect Joe Biden adds another layer of uncertainty for markets. On the virus front, the US states have resumed lockdowns in an attempt to curb the spread of the outbreak following daily records of coronavirus cases and deaths.

Towards the end of the month, positive vaccine and political news have steered the US markets: Vaccinations Pfizer and BioNTech SE submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of their mRNA vaccine candidate, which will potentially enable the use of the vaccine in high-risk populations in the U.S. by the middle to end of December 2020. They also announced their intention to roll submissions across the globe including in Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan and the U.K, and plan to submit applications immediately to other regulatory agencies around the world.

As per the announcement and Dr Moncef Slaoui, Americans could receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as the 11th of December. Politics The General Services Administration (GSA) which can ascertain the winner of a Presidential election based on certain criteria and govern under the law for presidential transitions, has recognised Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” and extended around $8 million in transition funding and making other resources available to the Biden transition team. In addition to the transition funding, the state of Michigan officially certifies the election results for Joe Biden, fuelling hopes that there is a less chance of a contested election.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the blue-chip index topped 30,000 for the first time. It was another milestone for the US stock market amid the pandemic. Another notable event was the announcements coming from Tesla and Amazon: Tesla: The electric car maker announced it is set to join the S&P500 on December 21.

The Company also received a trading upgrade to a buy-equivalent citing “ the company on the verge of a profound shift ” from Morgan Stanley after its debut declaration. The Company’s share price rallied following the announcement, highlighting the dominance of mega-cap growth stocks on the S&P500 benchmark. Amazon: Amazon launches its online pharmacy - the Amazon Pharmacy earlier this month capturing the pharmacy business.

It is a game-changer for the online retailer giant as it will allow customers to order medication or prescription refills to be delivered to their front door within days. Its emergence in the prescription drug space will definitely have some impact on drugstores. The share price of its rival companies CVS Health Corp, Wallgreens Boots Alliance Inc, Rite Aid and GoodRx took a blow on the launch.

Europe & UK – Lockdowns & Brexit The European markets were also underpinned by more national or localised lockdowns and Brexit negotiations. Even though the European Union appeared more optimistic around the negotiations with the UK, there is still much uncertainty around Brexit. The countries like France and Belgium are urging the EU to also step up preparations of a no-deal Brexit.

While investors welcomed the vaccine updates, the eurozone economy seems to be lagging compared to its peers. The latest PMI figures in the UK, US and Australia also indicated a strong recovery in the manufacturing and services sector while the Eurozone and Germany failed to recover as expected. Like the other markets, encouraging vaccine news was the bullish trigger in the European markets.

ASX - back in black After the release of the Federal Budget, Australian shares started to decouple from US and European stocks as investors endorsed the government blitz which boosted confidence. During the month of November, the Australian share market has rallied significantly on the back of: The easing of lockdown restrictions in the second most populated state and the second’s largest city in the country. The positive vaccine updates coming from Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

The confidence in the Australian economy as compared to other major countries. Historically low-interest rates. Even though the RBA slashed interest rates to a historic low, there is a level of reassurance that the lower level of interest rates will stay for a longer period which means that the central bank is not expecting a deterioration in the Australian economy fuelling investors’ confidence.

The Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement has provided another level of confidence at a time of global trade uncertainty. It has also elevated expectations that both countries might initiate some sort of dialogue after the Chinese Communist Party has frozen all communications with Australian ministers. Earlier this week, the ASX briefly erased 2020 losses before retreating slightly lower as of writing.

Forex market In the forex market, major currencies were stronger against the US dollar. The greenback struggled against its peers following fresh daily records on the virus front, mixed economic data, a dovish central bank and a stimulus gridlock. Safe-haven currencies like the greenback, Japanese Yen and Swiss franc were among the worst performers as compared to commodity-related currencies and the British Pound.

Source: Bloomberg Terminal The Antipodeans currencies were among the top gainers lifted by the better containment of the virus as compared to other major economies. The additional funding from the central banks, governments, renewed confidence, and economic data have helped the Australian and New Zealand dollar to edge higher. As of writing, the AUDUSD pair is currently trading above the 0.73 level.

Source: GO MT4 The GBPUSD pair reclaimed the 1.33 level following encouraging Brexit headlines and the overall broad optimism in the markets despite the national lockdown. Source: GO MT4 Oil – Broad optimism Crude oil prices have remained pressurised by the uncertainty on the demand outlook and a supply glut. The broad optimism in the markets triggered largely by vaccine updates and hopes that the pandemic may soon be under control, is providing support to a fundamentally battered energy market.

As of writing, WTI Crude oil (Nymex) and Brent Crude (ICE) were trading higher around $45.87 and $48.83. Traders will likely keep monitoring weekly oil reports and OPEC commitments to production cuts for fresh trading impetus. Gold slides Gold plummeted below the psychological mark at $1,900 on the first announcement of Pfizer and BioNTech that its vaccine has a 90% efficacy rate.

For the remaining on the month, the precious metal remained underpinned by vaccine trials news and the US stimulus gridlock. As of writing, the XAUUSD pair has dropped to its lowest point in four months and is currently trading around $1,810. From the health crisis point of view, the vaccine updates are fuelling the hopes of a quicker recovery and providing reassurance to investors.

However, the amount of stimulus injected into the global economy over the last couple of months is evidence that the economic and financial recovery might take some time. Source: GO MT4 Despite the recent sell-off, the precious metal is currently holding up above the $1,800 mark. Any breach below this level may trigger a deeper sell-off.

Netflix’s Second-Quarter Results Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) has released its second-quarter 2019 earnings report on Wednesday after the US close. The company tumbled by more than 10% in after-hours trading as the streaming giant missed new memberships forecasts. Below are the main highlights of the financial results: New paid memberships grew only by 2.7 million compared to 5 million forecasted.

In comparison to the Q2 2018, paid membership was less by 2.8 million. Profit in the second quarter of 2019 fell to $271m. The missed forecasts were across all regions, but it has been more prominent in the region with the price hikes.

However, the company didn’t think that the price increase was the issue. The Company blamed the miss in new subscribers on a lack of original content rather than competition. “We don’t believe the competition was a factor since there wasn’t a material change in the competitive landscape during Q2, and competitive intensity and our penetration is varied across regions (while our over-forecast was in every region). Rather, we think Q2’s content slate drove less growth in paid net adds than we anticipated” Netflix moved away from licensed shows and is relying more on its original films, anime shows and programs.

The lack of strong content could have been the reason that the streaming company failed to bring in more subscribers. In the face of serious competition with other companies like Disney, Apple, Hotstar, YouTube, among others offering streaming entertainment, Netflix will have to upstage its original content and stay relevant. The company see subscribers picking up in Q3 due to the release of new seasons of popular shows.

Also, popular shows like The Office and Friends will be wound down over the coming years, which will help to free up budget to allow Netflix to create more original content. The rise of competition and the type of content are the major factors that Netflix will have to tackle to achieve the large projected ticks in subscribers in the third quarter. Click here for more information on trading Share CFDs, also, see our Index Trading page for information in trading Indicies.

After a stellar year in 2017, investors were taken aback by the massive swings in the markets in 2018. The turmoil in the financial markets has created an environment of panic and fears about a global recession. Even though the risk of a recession is not on the horizon yet, we do expect 2019 to remain volatile.

Prudent investors will likely favour cautious positioning. Economic Growth Slowing Global Growth will be the dominant factor that will drive markets’ sentiment across various asset classes, as external crosswinds have exacerbated fears of decelerating economic growth. A series of surveys on the Manufacturing activities released at the beginning of the year have shown that major economies are likely to see slower activity in 2019.

So far, the weakness in China has been significantly higher than other major economies, and is expected to weaken further. China made its first bank’s reserve requirement ratios in 2019 on the 4 th of January, after mounting pressure from the US tariffs and its weakest growth since the global financial crisis. Aside from trade tensions, the US government shutdown and the gridlock in Washington will not be market-friendly.

The fiscal stimulus will fade which will hurt the US economic performance. Overall, we expect investors to keep an eye on the role of China in tackling slow domestic growth in the first quarter as the country will probably fight back with stronger monetary and fiscal policies. Economic growth will be slower compared to last year as the sugar tide from fiscal stimulus will fade, but we do not expect a recession in 2019.

Central Banks The Federal Reserve (Fed) will stay in the limelight among the major central banks in the near term. The markets are expecting the Fed to end its hike cycles in 2019 and there are still many uncertainties in the Fed’s messages, despite the “patient” pledge from Jerome Powell on Friday. The Fed is trying to walk on the fine line on data-dependency, and until there is more clarity on the rate path or more dovish signals, investors will stay prudent in their positioning.

It is unlikely that other central banks like the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan or Reserve Bank of Australia will hike in the near term. However, a rate hike by the ECB in September is possible. We may see investors switching their attention from the Fed to the ECB towards the second half of the year.

The Bank of England will remain underpinned by Brexit uncertainties as its economy remains vulnerable to Brexit risks. The first quarter of 2019 will provide more insights into the economy, once the uncertainty around Brexit reduces. We do not expect the BoE to alter interest rate until there is more clarity on Brexit.

Geopolitical Risks Against the global growth backdrop, political risks will also pose challenges for investors. There have been a lot of political noises and speculations in 2018 which significantly drove the overreactions in the markets. However, in 2019 investors may be better equipped to separate signals from noises.

European political risks may be calmer but will remain a worry, given the backlash from populist parties and Italy’s fiscal dispute with Brussels. The budget agreement was deemed as a “borderline compromise” that prevented the EU from opening a debt procedure. More importantly, the tensions between ruling parties in Italy is another threat that can plunge the country into another political chaos and dampen risk sentiment in the Eurozone area.

The relationship between the US and China- the world two biggest economies will remain the biggest risk for the global economy in 2019. The rise of China is a potential threat for the US, and the markets are not expecting a quick resolution of the cold trade war despite the G20 trade truce. The first quarter of the year will remain gripped by trade headlines.

In the US, the government shutdown continues and is among the longest one since 1980. President Trump lost the majority in the House of Representatives, and Washington is trapped in gridlock. Therefore, another fiscal boost is extremely low.

At the same time, we also anticipate more drama and threatened government shutdowns during the year with a Democrat-controlled House. The Technology Sector Technology stocks have been the primary driver of the global stock markets in the past decade. The overall performance of the tech sector was outstanding since the financial crisis.

However, 2018 has shown us that the tech giants are facing their own unique challenges and have went into a freefall. Investors are worried about future earnings, and the markets’ reactions after Apple’s rare revenue warning statement is an example of how fragile investors’ sentiment is toward earnings forecasts for 2019. Fundamentals are still here and supportive, and we can see the technology sector improving towards the end of the year.

However, the uncertainties and volatility around the growth of this sector may persist for the first half of the year which can prompt investors to diversify to cope with any downside. This article is written by a GO Markets Analyst and is based on their independent analysis. They remain fully responsible for the views expressed as well as any remaining error or omissions.

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Without any doubt it was a difficult year for the stock markets. Recently nearly all equity indices have erased their 2018 gains. October has also lived up to its reputation in being the worst month for equities.

The stock markets bled red, and investors were anxious and cautious. The equity markets have gone through their longest bull run, and markets participants were only expecting a correction of 10% at some point. However, the recent massive sell-off prompted increased fears as the markets were navigating into a sea of headwinds, with growing concerns that it is more than just the markets correcting themselves.

Has Jerome Powell emerged as the saviour? The policy divergence between the US and the other major central banks was the dominant driver that had altered the spectrum of the buoyancy in the markets at the beginning of the year. A hawkish Fed prevented the equity markets to outperform in 2018.

A sudden dovish shift whereby a few Fed officers appeared to be less hawkish has captured the markets’ attention. Chairman of the he Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell’s comments were the trigger: “ interest rates are close to neutral ” compared to “interest rates are a long way from neutral” which were embraced by equity traders. Wall Street slowly moved into green again as the possibility of fewer rate hikes boosted equity benchmarks: The Dow Jones Average Industrial surged by 600 points to close at 25,366.43 S&P500 jumped by 2.3% to finish at 2,743.79 Nasdaq Composite advanced by 2.95% to end at 7,291.59 Jerome Powell appears to have just put a floor under stocks!

Source: Bloomberg Is the renewed optimism justified? It would make sense to say “yes” as the Fed risk has resolved itself and now the markets have “one less” headwind to think about. When the markets dropped as much as 10%, such dovish news is deemed favourable as it plays an essential part to the bottoming process.

However, while the change in language does indicate “dovishness” and be the reason for the market to cheer up, the price action might be exaggerated or could lose steam as trade tariffs with China is far from resolved even though there is more optimism regarding trade negotiations. The stock markets are still fragile and vulnerable to: Peaked earnings Slow growth in China Reduction in global demand Brexit jitters The rout in oil markets Regulatory measures We have also seen that technology investors had a rough two months having witnessed the FAANG group wiping off $1 trillion in market value. Fundamental and external risks have forced investors to stop and think.

Apple shares fell in a bear market territory shaking up the technology sector this month. Being the bellwether of technology stocks, the rout in Apple shares over the decrease in iPhone sales put downward pressure Wall Street. Apple erased $190 billion in five weeks and it lost its $US1 trillion valuation.

Trump tariffs threat on iPhones did little to help Apple in staging a recovery. Source: Bloomberg If it were not for the relief bounce in late November, Amazon was down by 21% since the first of October losing $200 billion market cap at some point. Fundamentals are not flashing red signals that justified such a massive sell-off.

The stock’s recent decline may be an overreaction, but it appears that fears were elevated after the disappointing revenue forecasts. Source: Bloomberg Other big stocks in the FAANG group are facing regulatory headwinds and concerns over the valuations of such big names. Regulation has just started to come down on companies and will likely get tougher.

These highflying stocks have grown so large that institutional investors are wary to go back to that overweight position. Are investors seeking more large-cap value over large gap growth? Overall, the equity markets were mostly hit by two major headwinds: Higher rates and Trade tariffs.

Now that Powell cleared investor’s doubts regarding interest rate. The attention now moves to the G20 summit. Traders are contemplating different scenarios on how the summit will unfold.

The most likely situation given the conflicting news from the White House will be that: Both parties will announce some kind of negotiation to somewhat calm the markets, but the US will most probably increase tariffs as expected. Whether the Stock Market will end in the green or still be flashing red, it may very well depend on President Trump.