Oil And Gold Bounced Back

In the oil market on Wednesday, despite the announcement of a smaller-than-expected decrease in U.S. crude inventories last week, Crude oil prices recovered sharply after two days of losses, with the January Nymex contract for U.S. light crude oil January (WTI) gaining +2.34% to $48.12. Domestic oil inventories for the week ended December 18 decreased by 0.6 million barrels to 499.5 million barrels, according to the Department of Energy, while the consensus were for a decline of 3 million barrels. Gasoline stocks decreased by 1.1 million barrels (compared to an anticipated demand rise of 0.8 million barrels), while distilled oil inventories decreased by 2.3 million barrels compared to the previous week, compared to an expected decrease of 1.5 million barrels. Brent was up +2.24% to have its $51.20 level back.

After declining for 4 consecutive sessions, the February futures contract for gold on Comex rebounded +0.43 percent to $1,874.70 on Wednesday. At the end of October, the yellow metal had fallen to about $1,780, the lowest in five months, as investors fled the stock markets neglecting safe haven.

On the stock side, Walmart Inc (WMT) was -0.68% to $143.22 on the day. A complaint against the retail giant was brought Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice, accusing it of maintaining the opioid crisis in the United States by accepting thousands of invalid prescriptions amid warnings from its pharmacists.

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) was -0.66% to $3185.27 on Wednesday despite the news of Formula 1 likely to be coming soon on Amazon. Financial Times reported that the U.S. e-commerce giant is in negotiations with the company overseeing the world’s most tracked motor racing group Formula 1 to air multiple Grand Prix races on its website. F1 boss Chase Carey told the FT, “They are an incredibly important potential partner and an opportunity for us to grow and grow our business.” Formula One Group (FWONA) was up 3.57% to $37.76 on the day.