Oil Prices higher today as OPEC says will cut production, Low supply of homes for sale, Personal incomes rose
November 30, 2016
Oil prices gushed higher today after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said that it will cut production in an effort to curtail the oversupply of oil in circulation around the globe. OPEC said that it will decrease production by 1.2 million barrels per day by OPEC producers and cut by 600,000 barrels per day by non-OPEC producing countries. The news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record high of 19,222. West Texas Intermediate oil was trading at $48.44/barrel, +$3.23 at the time of this post.
A low supply of homes for sale was a big reason that contracts signed saw a slight increase in October, reports the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). October Pending Home Sales rose 0.1% from September, squeaking out gains despite rising prices and tight supplies. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, “Despite limited listings and steadfast price growth that’s now carried into the fall, buyer demand has remained strong because of the consistently reliable job creation in a majority of metro areas.”
Personal Incomes in October rose at their fastest pace since April while consumer spending continues to increase signaling the U.S. economy could end 2016 on a high note. Personal Incomes rose by 0.6% in October, above the 0.4% expected, while Personal Spending was up 0.3%, just below the 0.5% expected. The news sent visions of higher sales in the heads of retailers as the holiday shopping season is well underway. Within the report it showed that the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE), the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, was somewhat tame rising by 0.1% from September while the year-over-year was up 1.7%.
