Oil Futures Settle Higher For 8th Day As Inventories Drop

Crude oil prices continued to move higher on Wednesday and the most active crude futures contracts extended their gain to an 8th straight session, after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories.

Crude oil prices have been surging higher in recent sessions following OPEC’s decision to reduce output for another two months, and Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut production by 1 million barrels per day.

Also, falling number of new cases of coronavirus infections and the momentum shift in vaccination drive have helped ease concerns about outlook for energy demand.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up $0.32 or about 0.6% at $58.68 a barrel.

Brent crude futures gained $0.38 or about 0.6% to $61.47 a barrel.

Data released by Energy Information Administration showed crude inventories in the U.S. fell 6.6 million barrels last week, as against expectations for an increase of 985,000 barrels.

Gasoline inventories increased by 4.259 million barrels last week, nearly 2.5 times more than the expected increase, while distillate stockpiles fell 1.73 million barrels, according to EIA data.

A report released by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday showed crude inventories in the United States fell by 3.5 million barrels in the week to February 5, raising hopes about higher fuel demand.

Equity Residential Q4 adjusted earnings Beat Estimates

Equity Residential (EQR) announced earnings for fourth quarter that decreased from last year.

The company’s earnings totaled $252.08 million, or $0.68 per share. This compares with $288.99 million, or $0.77 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Excluding items, Equity Residential reported adjusted earnings of $294.54 million or $0.76 per share for the period.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.24 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter fell 10.3% to $613.44 million from $683.90 million last year.

Equity Residential earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q4): $294.54 Mln. vs. $350.46 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): $0.76 vs. $0.91 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.24
-Revenue (Q4): $613.44 Mln vs. $683.90 Mln last year.

-Guidance:
Next quarter EPS guidance: $0.31 to $0.35

Air NZ extends credit scheme for international flights

Air New Zealand has agreed to extend customers’ credits until June 30 next year.

The flights must be booked by that time and must be taken by June 30 2023. This applies to both domestic and international credits.

The ariline’s policy on customers’ credits has been criticised by Consumer NZ.

Invacare Corp Q4 adjusted earnings Inline With Estimates

Below are the earnings highlights for Invacare Corp (IVC):

-Earnings: -$5.12 million in Q4 vs. -$18.68 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: -$0.15 in Q4 vs. -$0.56 in the same period last year.
-Excluding items, Invacare Corp reported adjusted earnings of -$3.47 million or -$0.10 per share for the period.
-Analysts projected -$0.1 per share
-Revenue: $224.04 million in Q4 vs. $232.91 million in the same period last year.

Uber Technologies Q4 Loss Narrows Driven By Delivery Revenues

Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter loss that narrowed from last year, despite revenues dropping 16% that was partially offset by a surge in delivery revenues. The ride-hail service’s fourth-quarter loss was narrower than Wall Street estimates, but revenues fell short of expectations.

For the fourth-quarter, Uber reported net loss of $968 million or $0.54 per share, compared with last year’s loss of $1.10 billion or $0.64 per share. On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated loss of $0.55 per share for the quarter.

Revenues for the quarter dropped 16% to $3.17 billion from $3.75 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.58 billion.

Mobility revenues declined 52% year-over-year to $1.47 billion from last year, but delivery revenues surged 224% year-over-year to $1.36 billion from last year.

Gross Bookings dropped 5% to $17.2 billion from last year, with Delivery Gross Bookings growing 128% YoY and Mobility Gross Bookings declining 47% YoY.

“While 2020 certainly tested our resilience, it also dramatically accelerated our capabilities in local commerce, with our Delivery business more than doubling over the year to a nearly $44 billion annual bookings run-rate in December,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO.

UBER closed Wednesday’s trading at $63.18, up $3.57 or 5.99%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $0.18 or 0.28% in the after-hours trade.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. Q4 adjusted earnings Beat Estimates

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NLY) revealed earnings for fourth quarter that decreased from the same period last year.

The company’s bottom line came in at $0.84 billion, or $0.60 per share. This compares with $1.17 billion, or $0.82 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Excluding items, Annaly Capital Management Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $423.54 million or $0.30 per share for the period.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.29 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q4): $423.54 Mln. vs. $373.65 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): $0.30 vs. $0.26 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.29

European Economics Preview: Bank Of England Monetary Policy Announcement Due

The monetary policy announcement and the quarterly economic and inflation projections are due from the Bank of England on Thursday.

The central bank is expected to keep its interest rate unchanged near zero, avoiding a reduction to negative territory at the February meeting. The bank is also set to maintain the size of quantitative easing at GBP 895 billion. The announcement is due at 7.00 am ET.

Other major economic reports due for the day are as follows

At 1.45 am ET, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs publishes consumer sentiment survey results.

At 3.00 am ET, December retail sales data is due from Hungary. Sales had fallen 0.8 percent in November.

Half an hour later, IHS Markit releases Germany’s construction Purchasing Managers’ survey results.

At 4.00 am ET, the European Central Bank publishes economic bulletin.

At 4.30 am ET, UK IHS Markit/CIPS construction PMI data is due. The index is seen at 52.9 in January versus 54.6 in December.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is scheduled to issue euro area retail sales data for December. Sales are forecast to grow 1.6 percent on month, reversing a 6.1 percent drop in November.