Market Snapshot – Oil Prices Steady As OPEC Meeting Kicks Off

Weak PMI Data Weighs on Markets

The stock markets continue to trade in a weak manner as the PMI data from Europe posted a weak number though reports of tapering continue to pour in. It is now generally believed that further news of tapering is likely to gain foothold in the markets in September and till that time, the market has to made do with reports and rumors from various quarters. While the talk is likely to reach a crescendo  in September, the ECB is expected to make a decision in October. The dollar continues to trade in a weak manner in the markets though the euro has not been able to make much progress so far during the day. The moves are expected to be slow this week in the absence of any major economic events except for the FOMC minutes in the middle of the week.

Important OPEC Meeting Underway

The OPEC meeting is off as per schedule today as the ministers sit down and discuss on how to handle the continued low prices in oil. There are reports that suggest that OPEC might try to include Nigeria and Libya also in the production cap and this is likely to be positive for the oil prices as including them would help them to have more control over the supply, something which they do not seem to have at this point of time. There is also talk that they might fix some floor price for oil in the short term as well and so the oil markets await further news eagerly.

Gold Prices Continue Higher

Gold prices continued to move ahead steadily during the course of the day today, continuing from where they left off during last week as they pushed through $1255 with so signs of the uptrend abating anytime soon. The dollar continues to be weak and this has further helped gold prices to grow over the last few weeks and this is to continue in the short term. The market would need to watch for a dollar reversal as the dollar shorts head towards record levels.