Weekly News Summary For September 13-19, 2019

Friday,  September 13: Pound Reaches Highest in Nearly Two Months

The British pound hit its highest since late July on Friday, after a newspaper report drive expectations of a no-deal Brexit being avoided on October 31.

The sterling, which mostly traded exclusively on Brexit uncertainty in recent weeks, climbed past $1.24 for the first time in nearly two months, gaining 1% against the US dollar at $1.2453.

Monday, September 16: Trump Permits Release of US Oil Reserves

US President Donald Trump announced plans to allow the releases of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to maintain a steady supply in the market after drone strikes shut down over half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production capacity at the weekend.

Trump also stated that he had informed all appropriate agencies to expedite approvals of the oil pipelines currently in the permitting process in Texas and other states.

Tuesday, September 17: WeWork Puts $20BN IPO on Ice

US office-sharing company WeWork pressed pause on its $20 billion IPO, after receiving a lukewarm response from investors.

WeWork’s co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann said he was humbled by the shelving of the IPO, adding that he had lessons to learn about managing a publicly-listed company, while the firm’s parent We Company said it still looking forward to completing the flotation before the end 2019.

Wednesday, September 18: Fed Cuts Rates for the Second Time

The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates for the second time this year, cutting rates by a quarter of a percentage point, and said it was ready to take a more extensive sequence of reductions if the US economy showed further signs of declining.

Economic projections released following the central bank’s two-day meeting showed an increasing number of Fed officials expect one more reduction this 2019, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that the US economy is still in good condition, although there are risks to the positive outlook.

Thursday, September 19: Oil Prices Climb on Inventory Build Up

Oil prices rose on Thursday, finding support on the first US crude inventory increase in four weeks, with the US crude oil WTI futures advancing by 0.3% to $58.22, while global benchmark Brent oil futures added 0.2% to $63.70.

The EIA reported that inventories were up by 1.06 million barrels for the week ended September 13, compared with forecasts for a drop of 2.5 million barrels, while gasoline inventories climbed by 780,000 barrels against expectations for a decline of 540,000.