Oil climbs on the back of a weaker dollar and improved supply signals

​Oil prices have risen higher, climbing ​four​ per cent and pushing up energy stocks around the world. WTI Crude is breaking above the US$60 (£38.66) per barrel, while Brent is close to reaching US$66 (£42.53) per barrel. This follows strong supply signals globally with US supplies falling for the sixth consecutive week.

Market and sector news

US markets closed flat yesterday​ (June 9th)​ on the back of rising speculation that US interest rate changes are looming, despite the consensus moving out further to September, and worries about the spiking of US Treasury bonds.

At market close yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day flat at 17,764.04, the S&P 500 gained less than a point at 2,080.15 and the Nasdaq dropped 7.76 points to 5,013.87. US markets are expected to open slightly higher on the back of higher energy stocks and the weaker dollar.

In Asian market news, local markets fell again as regional bourses sold off following overnight losses on Wall Street and regional bearishness following a decline in Japanese stocks triggered by strength in the Japanese yen. The Nikkei was down 0.25 per cent, the Hang Seng was down 1.12 per cent, while the Straits Times Index ended in negative territory for the fourth consecutive day yesterday, closing below the psychologically significant level of 3,300, the first time since January.

Currency news

Weakness in the greenback continued overnight and at 1:24​ ​PM GMT, Sterling/US Dollar was up 0.9​ per cent​ at 1.552.

Company news

In company news, global bank HSBC (LSE: HSBA) announced it would cut 25,000 jobs worldwide, almost 10​ per cent​ of its workforce, in a bid to improve efficiencies and revert its sluggish performance. Around 8,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the UK 

In the US, Target Corp (NYSE: TGT) said it would double its share buyback programme to $10 billion and increase its quarterly dividend by 7.7 percent, resuming buybacks after nearly two years according to a report in Reuters. Target's share price was steady at US$79.12 (£50.98) in after-market trading on Tuesday.