Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 07/28/17

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 0.3% in April after increasing 2.3% in March. In April, the index equaled 114.7 (2015=100) compared with 115.1 in March. “After a revised increase in March of 2.3%, the April index declined just slightly,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The outlook is solid for tonnage going forward as the country approaches pre-pandemic levels of activity, with strong economic growth in key areas for trucking – including retail, home construction and even manufacturing. “Additionally, the index increased on a year-over-year basis for the first time since March 2020. Part of the reason for the gain was due to an easy comparison with when the index fell significantly in April 2020,” he said. “But I’m expecting increases, albeit smaller than April’s, on a year-over-year basis going forward. Trucking’s biggest challenges are not on the demand side, but on the supply side, including difficulty finding qualified drivers.”

Futures lost as much as 0.9 percent in New York after falling 1.6 percent the previous two sessions. U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.82 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report, even as it noted a large decline at the storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. While all OPEC members support extending output curbs until the end of 2018, Russia hasn’t yet committed to the proposal, said people familiar with the matter. Oil has eased this week from the highest level in more than two years on uncertainty about the outcome of Thursday’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. While the global glut relative to the five-year average has more than halved since January, the surplus still stands at 140 million barrels, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said Monday. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures dropped as much as 1.2 percent in London, extending Monday’s decline. Uncertainty over the outcome of Thursday’s meeting is creating the risk of a slide in prices, which have gained on assumptions that the curbs will be prolonged for nine months, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. OPEC backs such an extension but is still waiting for commitments from Russia, according to people familiar with the matter. Crude surged earlier this month on signs the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners will prolong cuts aimed at shrinking a global glut. Prices, time spreads and hedge-fund positioning all reflect a high probability the group will follow a Saudi proposal to extend the pact to the end of 2018, Goldman said. Yet Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Tuesday that it’s too early to talk about the duration. Click Read More below for additional information.