Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and why.
Crude oil surged to a one-month high on Friday, with November WTI closing up more than three and a half percent. The move was driven by a combination of a weakening dollar and rising concerns over escalating geopolitical hostilities threatening global supply. Energy traders are watching the risk premium closely.
That dollar weakness traces directly back to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who spoke at the annual IMF meeting in Bangkok and offered nothing in the way of forward guidance on rates or the broader economy. The dollar index fell to a two-week low, and markets interpreted the silence as a signal that a rate hike this month is increasingly off the table. When Powell goes quiet, the market fills the void.
On the other end of the energy complex, natural gas told a very different story. November Nymex nat-gas fell nearly four percent Friday, sliding to a one-and-a-half-week low. The culprit is the weather forecast. The Commodity Weather Group is projecting above-normal autumn temperatures across the United States, which suppresses heating demand and takes pressure off storage draws. Mild weather is a headwind the bulls simply cannot fight.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
