1 .Central Banks Added 273 Tonnes Of Gold In 2020: WGC

Feb 03 , 2021

World central banks have added almost 273 tonnes of gold last year, according to World Gold Council (WGC) report. The Gold Demand Trends report that was published by WGC noted that the official gold reserves by central banks around the world surged further for the 11th consecutive year in 2020. The report said that the addition was the lowest tonnage of purchases since 2010. The yearly purchases in the previous year were lower considerably by almost 60% when compared to the record purchases of 669 tonnes seen in 2019.

Source: WGC

2.Opec extended its current oil output policy

Feb 03 , 2021

Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, or OPEC+, vowed to continue with a reduced output policy. The cartel’s decision indicates that efforts to reduce inventory will continue even as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers and the outlook for fuel demand remains uncertain. It is also an indication that OPEC+ is starting to unwind the unprecedented production cuts it implemented in 2020, which helped oil rally from record lows.

Source: Bloomberg

3.U.S. Oil Production On Course To Hit Record Levels In 2023:EIA

Feb 03 , 2021

U.S. oil production fell sharply in 2020, but the Energy Information Administration is expecting it to pick back up and even set new records in just two years, it said in its much-anticipated annual energy outlook (AEO2021). According to the EIA, U.S. oil production will surpass in 2023 its previous annual average of 12.25 million barrels per day, achieved in 2019. In 2020, U.S. oil production had reached a high of 13.1 million bpd on average for week ending March 13. But the overall annual average for the pandemic year was much lower after oil production fell sharply in August, briefly dipping below 10 million barrels per day.

Source: Oil Price. com

4.Codelco, other top Chile miners see production plunge in December

Feb 02 , 2021

Chilean state giant Codelco saw its copper production plunge in December. The national copper commission Cochilco said that output at Codelco fell 16% year-on-year to 157,800 tonnes for the month. However, total 2020 production for the miner inched up 1.2% over the previous year. Escondida copper production 0.7% year-on-year to 104,900 tons. However, Production in 2020 remained flat with the previous year. Collahuasi posted a 22% year-on-year decrease in production to 44,200 tons in December. However, Overall 2020 production jumped 11.3% versus 2019.

Source: Reuters

5.Global manufacturing sector lost some momentum in January

Feb 02 , 2021

Business activity in global manufacturing sector lost some momentum in January as growth rate for output and new orders eased. The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a three-month low of 53.5 in January, down from 53.8 in December. A reading above 50 indicates expansion and below the threshold points to contraction.

Source: Livemint

6 .China’s growth is likely to moderate in the next few months: Goldman Sachs

Feb 02 , 2021

China is expected to show “spectacular” gross domestic product numbers in the first quarter this year but two risks remain. The policymakers are quite comfortable with the recovery so far and are starting to pull back on policy stimulus to some degree. Also, China’s recovery is a resurgence of local outbreaks. China showed robust GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2020, expanding at 6.5% compared to a year ago. It beat market expectations, and made China one of the few major economies in the world to record positive growth for a year mired by the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: CNBC

7.U.S. service sector activity near two-year high in January: ISM survey

Feb 03 , 2021

U.S. services industry activity raced to its highest level in nearly two years in January. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said US non-manufacturing activity index increased to a reading of 58.7 last month. That was the highest reading since February 2019 and followed 57.7 in December. The index is now above its pre-pandemic level. Also Consumer spending on services is about 7.5% lower than before the outbreak of the virus in the United States. 

Source: Reuters

8.Euro zone inflation rebounds more than expected in January

Feb 03 , 2021

Euro zone consumer inflation rebounded by much more than expected in January, a flash estimate showed on Wednesday. Consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.2% month-on-month in January for a 0.9% year-on-year jump, rebounding from a 0.3% year-on-year fall in December. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.5% year-on-year rise in January. The faster consumer price growth in January was mainly visible in the biggest economy Germany, where prices went up 1.6% on the year, and in the Netherlands, where they rose 1.7% year-on-year.

Source: Reuters