China crude oil imports fall in January from record high
China’s crude oil imports fell 20 percent in January from record high volumes the previous month to their lowest level since October, official customs data showed on Monday. China took advantage of low global oil prices last year to add up to 185 million barrels to its reserves, Reuters calculations show, while oil demand – refinery throughput plus net imports of oil products – grew 3.1 percent. Click here for article.
Strategist for $1.7 Trillion in Funds Says Rout Has Room to Run
Global equities have recouped some losses since the end of last week after a selloff that sent them into a bear market for the first time in five years. Oil has climbed back to near $30 a barrel after plunging to its lowest since 2003. “China’s growth stabilization story is still unclear,” said Chow, who sees e-commerce business as one bright spot in Asia’s biggest economy. “We have to wait and see what happens.” Oil could drop to as low as $22 a barrel, according to Chow. Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed Tuesday to freeze output at near-record levels. Click here for article.
China dampens gold’s rally as peak demand period wraps up
Chinese investors sold into gold’s rally after returning from a week-long holiday, a sign they do not expect prices to go much higher and cannot be counted on to support the market with post-Lunar New Year demand set to falter. Chinese gold demand could increase this year from 2015 only if the price rally continues or as long as prices don’t make lower lows than those seen in 2015, Li said. Click here for article.
New technique for turning sunlight into hydrogen
A team of Korean researchers, affiliated with UNIST has recently pioneered in developing a new type of multilayered photoelectrode that boosts the ability of solar water-splitting to produce hydrogen. The research team says this method is inspired by the way plants convert sunlight into energy. Click here for article.