Oil Sees Modest Gains As IEA Cuts Demand Outlook

Oil prices were modestly higher on Thursday after the White House urged OPEC to boost oil production, saying recent planned increases will not fully offset previous production cuts imposed during the pandemic.

“At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough,” National security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

“Higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery,” he added. “OPEC+ must do more to support the recovery.”

In July, OPEC agreed to boost output each month by 400,000 bpd versus the previous month, starting in August, until the rest of their record cuts of 10 million bpd, about 10 percent of world demand, made in 2020 are phased out.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $71.73 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $69.50.

On the demand side, the International Energy Agency (IEA) cut forecasts for global oil demand “sharply” for the rest of this year, citing new COVID-19 restrictions imposed in several major oil consuming countries, particularly in Asia.

“We now estimate that demand fell in July as the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant undermined deliveries in China, Indonesia and other parts of Asia,” the international energy watchdog said in its monthly report.

Meredith Q4 Results Top Estimates – Quick Facts

Media and marketing company Meredith Corp. (MDP) reported Thursday that net earnings for the fourth quarter soared to $36.7 million from $6.2 million from last year, with earnings per share of $0.74, compared to loss per share of $3.84 in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $1.11 per share, compared to adjusted loss from continuing operations of $0.14 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.48 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues for the quarter grew 17 percent to $717.9 million from $611.2 million in the same quarter last year. Analysts were expecting revenue of $690.22 million for the quarter.

Alice McDermott Is Reading ‘Frankenstein’ for the First Time

“The original is more complex, more overwrought and more harrowing than popular culture had led me to believe,” says the novelist Alice McDermott, whose new book is “What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction.”

Gold rallies ₹ 422; silver gains ₹ 113

Gold in the national capital on Thursday rallied ₹ 422 to ₹ 45,560 per 10 gram amid gain in global precious metal prices, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at ₹ 45,138 per 10 gram.

Silver also gained ₹ 113 to ₹ 61,314 per kilogram from ₹ 61,201 per kilogram in the previous trade.

In the international market, gold was trading with gains at $ 1,756 per ounce and silver was flat at $ 23.44 per ounce.

"Gold prices witnessed recovery on softer dollar and fall in US treasury yields," according to HDFC Securities, Senior Analyst (Commodities), Tapan Patel.

Mercedes-Benz unveils ‘marketplace’ for pre-owned cars

Mercedes-Benz India has announced the introduction of a ‘direct customer to customer’ selling platform called ‘Marketplace’ to provide buyers and sellers of luxury pre-owned cars multiple benefits.

Martin Schwenk, MD & CEO Mercedes-Benz India, said, “Marketplace’s direct customer-to-customer model will provide sellers and buyers transparent, hassle-free and convenient platform to sell existing car and upgrade.”

“With this initiative, we create a win-win scenario for customers and an opportunity for our franchise partners to scale-up their pre-owned and new car business by offering a luxury brand experience,” he said.

“Marketplace will continue to set new benchmarks in terms of transparency, efficiency and customer centricity in the entire luxury pre-owned car business,” he added.

EMagin Posts Wider Adj. Loss In Q2

eMagin Corp. (EMAN) said it recorded a year-over-year decline in second-quarter display revenue due to unexpected downtime experienced with manufacturing equipment, which delayed certain display shipments into the third quarter. The company said it continues to make steady progress in developing Direct Patterning Display technology and remains on schedule to produce high-resolution, and full-color prototypes in the current year.

Excluding items, net loss for the second quarter of 2021 was $2.9 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.3 million, or $0.02 per share in the prior-year period.

Net loss for the second quarter of 2021 was $0.3 million, or breakeven per share, compared to a loss of $2.8 million, or $0.05 per share, in the prior year period.

Total revenues for the second quarter of 2021 were $6.3 million, compared to $7.7 million, last year. Product revenues were $5.7 million, a decrease of $0.5 million from product revenues of $6.3 million, a year ago.

Industrial production grows 13.6 % in June

India’s industrial production rose by 13.6 % in June, official data released on Thursday showed.

According to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the manufacturing sector’s output surged by 13 % in June 2021.

The mining output climbed 23.1 % and power generation increased by 8.3 % in June.

The IIP had contracted 16.6 % in June 2020.

During April-June this year, the IIP grew by 45 % against a contraction of 35.6 % in the same quarter last year.

Industrial production has been hit due to the coronavirus pandemic since March last year when it had contracted 18.7 %.

It shrank 57.3 % in April 2020 due to a decline in economic activities in the wake of the lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus infections.