Crude oil prices are rising ahead of the OPEC meeting

Significant reshuffles on oil market. In November, raw material prices fell by almost 20 percent, but since the beginning of the year they have increased by over 40 percent. Today, the WTI oil futures contracts are recovering from earlier falls and are rising above USD 67 a barrel. Meanwhile, they were below $ 65 in the previous session. Markets now appear to be awaiting OPEC's response to the threat of a new variant coronavirus hitting fuel demand and the release of strategic oil reserves. OPEC will meet on Wednesday, and on Thursday there will be another meeting with allies under OPEC +.

Will OPEC + withdraw from plans to increase production? 

It is widely expected that the group will halt plans to increase deliveries by 400. barrels per day in January due to supply and demand factors. A new variant of the coronavirus has already caused travel restrictions. From a survey conducted by Reuters agency it appears that even if the cartel decides to continue the planned increase in production and supply, it may have difficulties doing so due to capacity constraints. Data from the US Fuel Institute showed that US crude oil inventories fell less than expected and gasoline inventories increased despite no change expected.

Awaiting December Fed decision

The currency market is trying to stabilize after the chairman's comments Federal Reserve Jerome Powell. The Fed chief said the US central bank is likely to discuss a faster withdrawal of its massive bond purchase program at the next meeting, citing the strong economy and expectations that the factors driving inflation would continue for next year. Some policymakers called for a faster end to asset purchases and an increase in interest rates as US inflation hit a three-decade high in November and the labor market is recovering steadily.

Discounts on oil and natural gas can lower inflation expectations and, over time, consumer inflation as a whole. And these factors will probably be taken into account during the December Fed decision and the publication of macroeconomic projections.

Cryptocurrencies return to the growth path

On the cryptocurrency market, the rate ETH / USD gains a chance to reach a new historic peak. After a few days of steadily increasing, the ethereum quotes seem to be approaching $ 5000. Bitcoin it still costs about 57 thousand. USD. In turn, the ETH / BTC exchange rate is at its highest since 2018.