Crude Oil Prices Down In Asia On Profit taking After OPEC

Crude oil prices fell in Asia on Monday as investors took profits following supportive comments from OPEC and allies on Friday on the scope for reblancing the market.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dipped 0.16% to $50.58 a barrel by close of trade, not far from its highest level since May 25 at $51.11 reached on Wednesday. Brent crude dipped 0.09% to $56.37 a barrel.

On other news, The far-right AfD party stunned the German establishment by finishing third and entering parliament for the first time, with 13.5% of the vote. Under Germany's mixed-member proportional voting system, that vaults in well beyond the 5% threshold needed for seats in parliament.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU and Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), won 32.5% of the vote, making them by far the largest parliamentary group, according to an exit poll for the broadcaster ARD, but that is down from 41.5% in the last election in 2013 and lower than recent polling. Their closest rivals, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), slumped to 20.0%, a new post-war low. Merkel now needs to work to form a coalition reportedly without the SPD, a process that will likely involve protracted negotiations.

Last week, oil prices settled a bit higher on Friday, hovering close to their best levels in months amid optimism that the crude market was starting to rebalance. For the week, U.S. oil prices gained about 1.5%, their third-straight weekly climb.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., rose 43 cents, or roughly 0.8%, to settle at $56.86 a barrel after touching a more than six-month peak of $56.91 earlier in the session.

The global benchmark closed the week with a gain of 2.2%, its fourth-consecutive weekly climb. Major oil producers convening in Vienna for an OPEC-led committee meeting on Friday boasted record compliance with their production-cut agreement, but, as expected, decided to wait a bit longer to see if any further action was needed. OPEC and non-OPEC compliance with the deal to curb output rose to 116% in August, the committee said, a strong increase from the 94% compliance achieved a month ago.

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Gold edged up from the previous day's four-week low on Friday as the dollar fell and investors sought a safe haven from geopolitical uncertainty caused by rising tensions between North Korea and the United States.Bullion is often used as a refuge in times of political or economic turbulence, while assets considered risky such as stocks are dumped.

North Korea said on Friday it might test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean after Trump threatened to destroy the country, with leader Kim Jong Un promising to make a "mentally deranged" Trump pay dearly for his threats. Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained on the possibility of North Korea conducting another nuclear test. U.S. stocks and the greenback were down. MKTS/GLOB USD/

Spot gold XAU= was up 0.36 percent at $1,295.71 per ounce by 2:29 p.m. EDT (1829 GMT), having hit a four-week low of $1,287.61 on Thursday. Prices hovered near support at the 50-day moving average.Even with the day's gains, spot gold was poised to finish the week down 1.5 percent, the largest such decline since early July.

"Gold disappointed today with just a perfunctory bounce as yields and the dollar receded from highs, but largely neglected North Korean threats of a hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean,"

"With the speculative market quite long and bullion trading just above key technical support levels fresh buyers were scant."The Fed earlier this week signalled it was still on track to raise interest rates by year-end. Tighter monetary policy raises the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. The dollar had risen to a two-month peak following the Fed's comments.U.S. gold futures for December delivery GCcv1 settled up $2.70, or 0.21 percent, at $1,297.50 per ounce.

Gold may end its current weak bounce around a resistance at $1,299 per ounce and then fall towards support at $1,281, said Reuters technicals analyst Wang Tao. gold it will continue to be back and forth, one day it's about Fed tightening and balance sheet reduction and the next it's about the geopolitical uncertainty that creates this tug of war,"

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Gold Gains In Asia On NKorea Remarks On Nuclear Testing

Gold prices rose in Asia on Friday as investors they digested an alarming report that North Korea could test a nuclear weapon over the Pacific Ocean with other attention onfixed on a policy speech on Brexit later in the day.North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Friday he believes the North could consider a hydrogen bomb test on the Pacific Ocean of an unprecedented scale, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

Ri was speaking to reporters in New York when he was asked what North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had meant when he threatened in an earlier statement the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the United States. North Korea could consider a hydrogen bomb test, Ri said, although he did not know Kim's exact thoughts, Yonhap reported. Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.36% to $1,299.48 a troy ounce.

Overnight, gold prices fell sharply on Thursday as traders continued to unwind their bullish bets on the precious metal in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s policy statement which sparked expectations of a year-end rate hike.

Gold prices slid to a more than four-week low as a somewhat hawkish Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would start to unwind its massive portfolio of bonds in October and signalled that a year-end rate hike remained appropriate.The "dot plot," part of the FOMC's Summary of Economic Projections, indicated that the central bank saw rates rising to between 1.25% and 1.5% by the end of the 2017. With rates steady at 1-1.25%, that points to one further rate hike this year. According to investing.com’s fed rate monitor more than 70% of traders expect the Federal Reserve to hike rates in December.Gold is sensitive to moves higher in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.

Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions did little to stem losses in gold after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a fresh round of sanctions to curb North Korea’s nuclear missile program.

"Today I'm announcing a new executive order, just signed, that significantly expands our authority to target individual companies, financial institutions, that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea," Trump told reporters ahead of a luncheon meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea.

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Crude Oil Prices Mixed As Market Looks To U.S. Rig Count

Crude oil prices were narrowly mixed in Asia with weekly rig count figures in the U.S. later in the day likely providing short-term direction on supply.On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for November delivery rose 0.02% to $50.70 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent eased 0.07% to $56.15 a barrel.

Overnight, oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, as bearish data showing U.S. supplies of crude oil rose more than expected was overshadowed by growing expectations that Opec will decide to extend its agreement to cut oil output.

A report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week briefly pared earlier gains amid growing investor optimism on a possible extension to the Opec-led agreement to cut oil output.

Inventories of U.S. crude rose by roughly 4.6m barrels in the week ended Sept. 15, confounding expectations of a rise of about only 3.4m barrels. It was the third weekly build in crude stockpiles.

Gasoline inventories, one of the products that crude is refined into, fell by roughly 2.13m barrels, missing expectations of a draw of 2.14m barrels while distillate stockpiles fell by 5.7m barrels, topping expectations of a decline of 1.6m barrels.

The third-weekly build in US crude stockpiles comes after heavy flooding due to storm Harvey knocked out nearly quarter of the U.S. refining capacity in August, pressuring demand for crude oil, the primary input at refineries.

The bullish start to the week for crude prices follows comments from Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi, in which he said that Iraq and other OPEC members are considering options to its production-cut agreement, including an extension beyond March and a deeper output cut.

In May, Opec and non-Opec members agreed to extend production cuts for a period of nine months until March, but stuck to production cuts of 1.8 million bpd agreed in November last year.

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Gold Gains In Asia Ahead Of Fed Policy Views

Gold prices gained in Asia on Wednesday with the Fed policy review expected to follow a well-telegraphed script on interest rates and reducing the balance sheet, though some investors are looking for language that suggests a shift to a more dovish outlook.

Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.44% to $1,316.41 a troy ounce.Overnight, gold prices were flat on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s threat that America would “totally destroy” North Korea if forced to defend itself or its allies did little to raise safe-haven demand as investors focused on the two-day Federal Open Market Committee which concludes on Wednesday.

President Trump’s latest threat to North Korea failed to garner much attention as investor focus remained on the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting that will conclude Wednesday with a statement on monetary policy.As well as announce plans to unwind its $4.5 trillion balance sheet, the U.S. central bank is expected to provide market participants with an insight into its thinking on additional rate hikes and the progress of the U.S. economy.“The Fed is going to make sure that the process would stay as smooth as possible and this would likely push them to hold their gradual approach in hiking the interest rates,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst with ThinkMarkets.

“The odds of a December rate hike are standing at 40%, but a hawkish tone by the Fed could strengthen the dollar index,”

Gold is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.

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Gold Dips In Asia As Investors Grow Cautious Ahead Of Fed Views

Gold prices dipped in Asia as markets grow cautious ahead of Wednesday's Fed policy statements with the details on the pace of unwinding its balance sheet awaited.

Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.14% to $1,312.70 a troy ounce.

Overnight, gold prices fell on Monday as fading tensions on the Korean Peninsula suppressed safe-haven demand while a sharp uptick in the dollar curbed sentiment on the precious metal ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting slated for Tuesday.

Fresh on the heels of a two-week losing streak, gold prices started the week on the back foot as investors appeared to unwind some of their long positions in the precious metal following strong gains in both the greenback and treasury yields.

Treasury yields rose sharply, pushing the dollar higher, amid expectations the Federal Reserve will announce that it will begin unwinding its $4.5tn bond portfolio and reaffirm its outlook that an additional rate hike remains appropriate this year, when it concludes its two-day meeting policy meeting on Wednesday.

“What is more, bond yields in the U.S. have increased significantly of late, which makes gold less attractive as an alternative investment,” Commerzbank (DE:DE:CBKG) says. “Presumably this is also why Friday saw the second consecutive daily outflow from gold ETFs [exchange-traded funds].”

Gold is sensitive to moves higher in both bond yields and the U.S. dollar – A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency while a rise in U.S. rates, lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.

Meanwhile, geopolitical uncertainty eased, reducing demand for safe-haven gold as investors downplayed U.S-North Korea tensions and piled into risker assets such as equities.

“Investors have been programmed to more or less ignore stuff with Korea. The last two or three times this kind of thing occurred we went down a little, only to turn back higher. We’ve learned to buy on the dips,”

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Crude Oil Mixed In Asia As US Rig Count Data Offers Support

Crude oil prices traded mixed in Asia on Monday with U.S. rig count data showing a drop aiding sentiment.On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for October delivery was flat at $50.44 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 0.20% to $55.73 a barrel.

Last week, oil prices settled higher racking up their biggest weekly gain since July on Friday amid rising expectations that higher oil demand will reduce excess crude supplies to Opec’s five-year average target.

Opec said production in August fell by 79,000 barrels a day (bpd) to 32.76 million as falling production from Venezuela, Iraq, the UAE and Saudi Arabia offset rising output from Nigeria.

“It is clear the rebalancing process is under way,” Opec’s secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo said, expressing optimism that growing demand in the second of the half of year would continue to dent excess supplies.

Crude output is expected to remain subdued as U.S. oil rigs continued to decline, pointing to a slowdown in production which could bolster crude prices.Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said its weekly count of oil rigs operating in the United States declined by 7 to 749.

The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.

“On the U.S. side, steadily declining rig counts of late have raised the possibility of stalled U.S. production gains, with current output still holding below pre-Harvey levels,”

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