LONDON - Signs of a stabilisation in China’s giant economy and a soggy dollar helped oil markets cement their best run for more than three years on Friday, though stocks weren’t buoyed much after spending most of the week treading water.
Europe’s bourses slowly shook off another groggy start, as had Wall Street futures which were limbering up for earnings from bulge-bracket banks JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. Driving the rise has been involuntary supply cuts from Venezuela, Libya and Iran, which have supported perceptions of a tightening market already underpinned by a production reduction deal from OPEC and its allies.
That would be more pessimistic than the current 0.8 percent estimate Germany’s leading economic institutes have penciled in. Worries about limp European growth also made the European Central Bank cautious at a policy meeting earlier this week.
Boooo. Bring back lower gas prices.