15th March 2017

 Markets were fairly quiet on Tuesday, as investors were on “Fed–watch” and not inclined to do much of anything anyway given that much of the US northeast was hit by a substantial winter storm, denting volumes. The precious metals complex retreated slightly in light trading, but we had a mixed showing in base metals. In the energy complex, oil lost ground again on Tuesday after OPEC reported that inventories rose further in January and now stand at 278 million barrels above the five-year average. “Despite the supply adjustment, stocks continue to rise, not just in the U.S., but also in Europe,” OPEC said in its latest report, although it did acknowledge that “prices have undoubtedly been provided a floor by the production accords.” OPEC upped its estimate for non-OPEC supply by 160,000 bpd and now projects output growth rising by 400,000 barrels per day from non-OPEC sources during 2017. However, an API report out late in the day on Tuesday sent the complex higher on news of unexpected draws in gasoline and crude.