Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 9/30/22

Futures in New York were little changed Friday and poised for a 3.7 percent weekly gain after the greenback slumped to a three-year low. A rebound in stocks from the U.S. to Asia is also boosting confidence the markets are stabilizing. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery added 7 cents to $61.41 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 6:13 a.m. local time. Total volume traded was about 31 percent above the 100-day average. Brent for April settlement climbed 19 cents to trade at $64.52 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark traded at a $3.22 premium to WTI for the same month.

Oil remains in a bear market on concern rising global supply will offset curbs by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners including Russia. OPEC’s first assessment of world markets in 2018 suggested that its current output of 32.6 million barrels a day -- swollen by a recovery in Libya and Nigeria that are exempt from the cuts -- will be too high. “Given how the rebalancing process appears to be taking its time, it will be difficult to avoid having the discussion with Libya and Nigeria of eventually capping their output, provided of course the gains in the two countries are sustained,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets strategy at BNP Paribas SA in London. Click Read More below for more of the story.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.3% in October after rising 0.8% in September. In October, the index equaled 116.3 (2015=100) versus 119.1 in September. "For-hire truck tonnage saw the largest single monthly decrease in October since the start of the pandemic,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The decrease fits with the anecdotal reports of a muted fall freight season. It also coincides with a slowing economy. Housing is a weak spot in freight in addition to a slowing in personal consumption of goods. While factory related freight is holding up better than other areas, it is also decelerating.” Compared with October 2021, the SA index increased 2.8%, which was the fourteenth straight year-over-year gain, but the smallest gain since April. In September, the index was up 5.7% from a year earlier. Year-to-date through October, compared with the same period in 2021, tonnage was up 3.9%.