22.09.2020: Oil eases while RUB slightly up (Brent, USD/RUB, BTC/USD)

Oil prices move moderately lower on Tuesday as the latest tropical storm weakens, but demand worries still persist. The ruble edges slightly higher. Meanwhile, bitcoin has dropped by almost 5% amid negative background in the global financial markets.
Oil is trading moderately lower on Tuesday after posting sharp losses yesterday. Crude prices decline as the tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico has lost its strength. However, concerns about global fuel demand still weigh on the market. In the morning session, Brent oil futures went down by 0.07% to 41 dollars 41 cents per barrel. WTI futures for October, which are due to expire on Tuesday, lost 0.23% and settled at 39 dollars 22 cents per barrel. The more active November contract was 1 cent up and traded at 39 dollars 55 cents per barrel. On Monday, oil prices fell by almost 4%.
Oil refineries in Texas plan to maintain production despite rising worries about the forecasted flooding. At the same time, tropical storm Beta is expected to decrease in power, thus easing worries about the US refineries demand for fuel.
This week, the market is bracing for a possible halt of the economic recovery in Europe as several countries in the region re-impose restrictions to contain the spread of the virus. Later in the day, traders will be also looking ahead to the data on US crude inventories from the American Petroleum Institute. Analysts expect that US crude and gasoline stockpiles fell last week, whereas distillates stocks were seen to increase.
In the meantime, the Russian ruble shows moderate growth on Tuesday. However, it remains under pressure and keeps trading close the lowest level from April against the US dollar. This decline can be caused by an overall risk aversion of emerging market assets. By the mid-session, the dollar/ruble pair reached the level of 76.24, with the ruble gaining 0.14% compared to the previous close. The Russian currency is now holding near April’s low which has already been tested in early September.
The No 1 cryptocurrency bitcoin lost nearly 5% on Tuesday and is currently trading below 10,500 US dollars. The drop in bitcoin is associated with the negative sentiment in the global financial markets. According to CoinMarketCap, in the early session, bitcoin slipped by 4.86% to trade at 10,440 US dollars. On major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, BTC depreciated by 4.76% to 10,425 US dollars. Notably, bitcoin accounts for 58.4% of the market trading volume.
According to Gleb Kostarev, the director at Binance Russia, bitcoin is facing a lot of pressure from falling stock markets amid coronavirus fears in many European countries. A drop in European stocks and US stock futures, as well as the rise in the US dollar, apparently, had a strong impact on the entire cryptocurrency market. At the same time, independent cryptocurrency expert Mansur Huseynov sees bitcoin rising in the course of the session on Tuesday.
Today, market participants are focused on the video message of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to the UN General Assembly. Experts at Alfa Bank point out that the president’s speech traditionally has a large influence on the way the Russian market is seen by foreign institutional investors. Traders will also keep an eye on the details of the upcoming OFZ auction which is scheduled on Wednesday. Such auctions usually indicate the demand for the Russian assets and may provide support for the ruble.

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