A stopgap funding bill cleared Congress this morning shortly after a midnight deadline, averting a federal government shutdown. The measure from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4) was approved by the Republican-led House by a vote of 366-34 Friday, while the Democratic-led Senate followed suit early Saturday morning by a vote of 85-11. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill today.
The short-term extension, known as a continuing resolution, funds the government at current levels through March 14 while adding $100B for disaster aid and $10B for agricultural assistance to farmers. It eliminates President-elect Donald Trump's demand to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, which Republican leaders indicate will be addressed separately in upcoming tax and border policy discussions next year.
The debt ceiling limits the total amount of money the US can borrow to meet its existing financial obligations. The US debt has risen to roughly $36T after the ceiling was suspended from June 2023; that suspension expires Jan. 1.
US drillers keep oil and natgas rigs unchanged for second week
(Reuters) -U.S. energy...
(Reuters) -U.S. energy firms this week kept the number of oil and natural gas rigs unchanged for the second week in a row, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.
The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, remained at 589 in the week to Dec. 20. That puts the total rig count down 31 rigs, or 5% below this time last year.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs were up one to 483 while natural gas rigs were down one to 102. The oil rig count was the highest since September.
Oil Notches Weekly Loss on Tariff Risk, Fed’s Slower Easing Path
(Bloomberg) -- Crude posted a weekly loss as investors weighed the Federal...
(Bloomberg) -- Crude posted a weekly loss as investors weighed the Federal Reserve’s slower approach to cutting interest rates and President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on EU countries unless they buy more US oil and gas.
Brent futures settled little changed near $73 a barrel to cement a 2.1% drop for the week. West Texas Intermediate held steady above $69 a barrel, with the February contract down 1.9% this week.
Trump said he wants the European Union to conduct large-scale purchases of American oil and gas and threatened tariffs if they don’t, adding to wider economic concerns as the US government is facing an imminent shutdown over funding plans. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday scaled back the number of cuts it expects next year, signaling a more hawkish approach to inflation.
Crude pared losses and US equities pushed higher on Friday after the central bank’s preferred gauge of inflation came in muted for November, signaling that the selloff on the Fed’s announcement was overdone.
U.S. stocks close sharply higher on inflation data, but still book weekly losses
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Friday, with all three...
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Friday, with all three major indexes bouncing as investors appeared relieved that fresh data showed inflation rose slightly less in November than forecast.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 498.02 points, or 1.2%, to close at 42,840.26, losing steam in afternoon trade but still finishing with its biggest gain since the day after the U.S. presidential election held in early November.
The S&P 500 climbed 63.77 points, or 1.1%, to end at 5,930.85.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 199.83 points, or 1%, to finish at 19,572.60.
But all three indexes booked weekly losses after stocks slumped Wednesday on the Federal Reserve signaling a potentially slower pace of interest-rate cuts next year. The Dow dropped 2.3%, logging a third straight week of declines. The S&P 500 saw a weekly loss of 2%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.8% for the week.
EIA Natural Gas Storage Draw Of -125 Bcf Is Mostly In Line With Analyst Expectations
On December 19, 2024, EIA released its Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report....
On December 19, 2024, EIA released its Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. The report indicated that working gas in storage declined by -125 Bcf from the previous week, compared to analyst forecast of -126 Bcf. In the previous week, working gas in storage decreased by -190 Bcf.
At current levels, stocks are 20 Bcf higher than last year and 132 Bcf above the five-year average for this time of the year.
From the technical point of view, natural gas is moving towards the nearest resistance level at $3.55 – $3.60 level. A move above the $3.60 level will open the way to the test of the next resistance at $3.80 – $3.85.
