SHANGHAI, Jul. 23 (SMM) – US FHFA’s house price index for May grew 0.4% MoM with April’s 0.3% and rose 5.7% YoY with previous value of 5.3%. June’s annualized number of existing home sales came in at 5.49 million with May’s 5.32 million, hitting a fresh high since February 2007. Those upbeat data from US supported dollar to end up 0.07% to 97.42.
Quantitative easing policies employed by the European Central Bank depress euro. The meeting minutes of Monetary Policy Committee for July, issued by the Bank of England on Wednesday, showed that all officials voted to leave interest rate unchanged. But signs displayed that more officials agreed to hike interest rate later. Should England raise interest rate, euro will be weighed on.
Crude oil prices plunged 2.90% to USD 49.20/bbl as US crude oil inventories jumped 2.5 million bbl with estimate of a drop of 2.3 million bbl. According to EIA data, imported oil from Saudi Arabia grew to 1.44 million bbl per day, higher thatn previous 1.32 million bbl per day. Crude oil stocks in US’s Cushing posted a rise of 813,000 bbl. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expressed that falling oil prices were just temporary and they will not cut production. Large inventories and supplies limited a growth in crude oil prices.
European and US stocks slipped across the board. Gold extended losses. Iron ore gaints including Australia BHP Billiton Rio Group, Rio Britain and Vale of Brazil continue to expand their capacity while China’s demand remains soft, which allowed iron ore to fall to daily limit on Wednesday. Rebar prices tumbled. Base metals all dropped and the falls slowed during Wednesday evening session.
