17.11. Oil falls on a decrease in U.S. inventories, but the dollar grows; Asian stocks fall

News for today, November 17:

Crude oil edged lower on Wednesday after an industry report revealed that U.S. gasoline inventories fell more than expected last week. Data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group showed that gasoline inventories fell 2.8 million barrels over the past week. It is well above the expected 600,000 barrels decline, and could put more pressure on the Biden administration to free oil from emergency reserves to curb fuel price increases.

On Wednesday, the U.S. dollar strengthened, breaking the key resistance levels, boosted by stronger-than-expected U.S. retail data. However, the optimistic news was not enough to lift Asian stocks, which were sagging amid concerns over COVID-19 and higher prices. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5% from a nearly three-week high it closed on Tuesday. This is its biggest drop this month and reverses the rise in stocks over the past seven days.

The dollar peaked at 114.97 yen in the early Asian session, the highest level since March 2017. The euro fell to $ 1.1263, its lowest level since July 2020. Gold rose 0.25% to $ 1,854 an ounce, returning to a five-month high of $ 1,876.9, which it hit a day earlier on growing inflation concerns. The price of Brent crude is $ 81.93 per barrel, WTI — $ 80.22. EUR/USD is at 1.1317, GBP/USD — 1.3440, gold is at $ 1,859.09 per ounce.­­­­