The Oct’24 Brent futures contract stood around $77.30/bbl early this morning before firming up to $78.05/bbl as of 10:55 BST. However, the contract met resistance here and softened to $77.85/bbl as of 11:15 BST (time of writing). The futures contract is currently poised to end the week lower than the $79.45/bbl recorded at the start of the week. The front-month Brent futures spread (Oct/Nov’24) also found support this morning, although the spread appears to meet resistance around the $0.78/bbl handle and currently stands at $0.75/bbl. The market will be awaiting US Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s keynote speech at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium at 15:00 BST today to gauge the Fed’s assessment of the US economy and the trajectory of interest rate cuts, likely to commence in September. Japan’s core CPI, which excludes fresh food items, rose 2.7% y/y in July ’24 (prev: +2.6% y/y), which aligns with median estimates. However, “core core” CPI, which excludes fresh food and energy costs, rose by 1.9% y/y (prev: +2.2% y/y), growing by under 2% for the first time in nearly two years. In the UK, regulator Ofgem raised its price cap on household energy bills by 10% to an annual £1,717 from Oct 01 due to severe weather events and geopolitical conflicts impacting the gas market. Finally, at the time of writing, the Oct/Nov’24 and Oct/Apr’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.76/bbl and $2.70/bbl, respectively.
