Phew. Take a breath. July is here (how?!) and another busy week is careering toward its conclusion, and what a week it’s been! But don’t breathe too easy, just yet – you’ve still got to make your way through what is surely the highlight of your week – our regular sideways look at the most important financial news! Let’s see what’s been moving the markets this week.



Oh-PEC, Don’t Do It!



OPEC+, an alliance of crude oil producers containing the 11 OPEC members + 10 non-members, held a pretty lengthy meeting in Vienna on Monday. What they would eventually agree on wasn’t exactly a closely guarded secret. It was long suspected that the group would vote to extend the supply curbs that OPEC members agreed last December. Our suspicions were bang on – they did just that!



Sounds a bit cheeky – why would they do that? Well, you can’t blame them, really. The OPEC+ decision is entirely protectionist and comes in the wake of a global decline in demand for oil, yet more instability in the Middle East, and a simultaneous relentless increase in US production of the expensive black gloopy stuff (oil). What does all of that mean? Dwindling profits for the 21 OPEC+ members and a lot of unhappy bunnies.



WTI on the Up



Oil prices jumped to their highest point in more than a month, with WTI hitting $60 per barrel on Monday, before dropping down to around $58 shortly after.



Oil prices are up, for sure, but, to be honest, the rise seems to have more to do with the more-than-a-little-bit-positive outcome of Trump and Xi’s meeting after the G-20 summit. That’s right, in case you missed it, the US and China are now willing to sit at a table together and chat. Rejoice! Traders would be wise to keep an eye on both the fallout from the OPEC+ decision and any developments on the US-China front. Watch those markets!



Trump in His Flip-Flops



It’s well and truly summertime and Donald Trump is getting into the spirit, slipping on his flip-flops to pull a U-turn on the Huawei ban. Last month, the Chinese tech giant was placed on a watchlist and US companies – which Huawei relies on for the production of its handsets – were barred from selling to the Chinese titan.

Fast forward just a month (and skip a lot of heartache and head scratching from consumers) and a warm fuzzy feeling is starting to spread between the US and China, albeit slowly. Trump has now completely reversed his previous hard-line decision, which is big news and shows positive signs for a potential trade deal.



Okay. Now delete that mental image of Trump in flip-flops.



Mark Your Calendar – Important News Inbound!



The latest Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) report is due this Friday, 5th July. Not to put a jinx on it, but things are looking a little rosier on the US employment-front following last month’s disappointing figures. The Manufacturing PMI grew 0.8% in June, going from 53.7% to 54.5% – positive signs for the US economy. Keep your eyes peeled for both further hints and movements in the USD pairs this Friday.



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