Market Information Thursday 19 May 2022

Crude oil inventories in the United States fell last week. This was revealed on Wednesday by figures from the US energy agency EIA. In the week ending May 13, crude oil inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels to 420.8 million. Here, an increase of 1.4 million barrels had been anticipated by economists. Gasoline stocks fell 4.8 million barrels to 220.2 million barrels. The expectation was a decrease of 1 million barrels. Fuel oil and diesel stocks rose 1.2 million barrels to 105.3 million. A stable level had been expected. Refinery capacity utilization was 91.8% compared to 90.0% a week earlier.

Registrations of new passenger cars in the Netherlands fell by 7.4% year-on-year in April, while in the European Union registrations fell by 20.6% in the same month. This was reported by the European automotive industry association ACEA on Wednesday. In the Netherlands, the number of registrations decreased last month to 22,087 cars. In March, sales were still up by 3.8% year-on-year. France still showed a substantial minus of 22.6% in April, more substantial than was reported for March. Germany, by far the largest car manufacturer of the EU, reported a 21.5% decline compared to a 17.5% decline in March.

Consumer prices in the eurozone rose at a steady pace in April compared to March. This was revealed on Wednesday by final figures from Eurostat. Inflation was 7.4% in April, the same as in March. In February the inflation rate was 5.9% and in January it was 5.1%. A preliminary estimate indicated an inflation of 7.5% for April. Core inflation, an important indicator for the ECB, was 3.5% on an annual basis in April, as expected. This was 3.0% in March. For March, a core inflation rate of 2.9% was reported earlier.

The 6M Euribor increased with 2 basis points to -0.17% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap decreased with 3 basis points to 1.74% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.