Market Bizzz

When Tesla’s stock begins to tick upwards there should be a flurry of short covering … as shorter-term short sellers look to realize their outsized mark-to-market profits before they evaporate,” said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners.

The uncertainty over the global economic outlook, along with mounting worries about a recession in the U.S., saw the two-year Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, slip overnight. It last stood at 4.3512%.

Also weighing on prices, pipeline operator TC Energy said it was working to restart the portion of the Keystone pipeline that was forced shut after a leak earlier this month. However, that comes as an arctic freeze has forced some oil refining facilities offline, backing up crude supplies.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six counterparts including the yen and euro, added 0.07% to 104.28 on Thursday, continuing its consolidation after sliding to the lowest since mid-June at 103.44 on Dec. 14, the day the Federal Reserve slowed interest rate hikes to a half-point pace.

Tech fell broadly on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq 100 down 1.5%. The group is facing its worst December performance since the dotcom era as investors expect the Federal Reserve will retain a hawkish stance as it grapples with inflation.

Prices were also supported by news that Russia aims to ban oil sales from Feb. 1 to countries that abide by a G7 price cap imposed on Dec. 5, according to a decree by President Vladimir Putin.

Oil prices ticked up on thin trade on Tuesday, on concerns that winter storms across the United States are affecting logistics and production of petroleum products and shale oil.

A lethal blizzard paralysed Buffalo, New York, on Christmas Day, trapping motorists and rescue workers in their vehicles, leaving thousands of homes without power and raising the death toll from storms that have chilled much of the United States for days.