Oil Prices is Down as U.S. crude stocks hit record for 7th week in a row

Oil futures fell amid the rising U.S. crude stockpiles kept supplies at the highest level in more than eight decades. It renewed worries of global oversupply

Brent crude futures fell as much as 1.5% in New York after closing little changed Wednesday, 45 cents to $38.81 a barrel as of 0518 GMT. It ended up 12 cents in the previous session after touching a session peak of $40.61. U.S. crude futures dropped 53 cents to $37.79 a barrel.

Inventories expanded for a 7th week by 2.3 million barrels to 534.8 million barrels, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration. Imports and production dropped. Ecuador and Venezuela will support a cut to output at a meeting between major exporters in Doha next month, Ecuador’s Oil Minister Carlos Pareja said in a post on the ministry’s Twitter account.

But the increase was less than analysts' expectations of a 3.3 million barrel build after crude imports fell 636,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7.4 million bpd.

Refinery crude runs rose by 414,000 bpd and refinery utilization rates rose 2 percentage points to 90.4 percent of total capacity, the highest seasonal rate since 2005.

U.S. Dollar is Up

U.S. Dollar were up to a one-week high against a basket of currencies on Thursday. The U.S. dollar index were able to hit 96.235, its highest since March 16. The U.S. currency was on the front foot after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard added his support to the possibility of more U.S. interest rate hikes this year.

U.S. Dollar was up 0.4% at 112.795 yen. The euro eased to $1.1171 EUR=, leaving it well off last week's top of $1.1342. Sterling GBP also slid to $1.4096 GBP= on concerns the attacks in Brussels would aid the campaign to leave the European Union in June's "Brexit" vote. The common currency has lost 0.8% so far this week.

Gold Prices Ended Lower Ahead of ECB Meeting

Gold prices ended lower on Wednesday, as investors worries about this week’s European Central Bank monetary-policy meeting.  It is possible  that the European Central Bank might surprise markets by giving more stimulus than is expected, since expectations are unduly low.

Gold for April delivery closed down 0.4% at $1,257.40 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Most market watchers expect the central bank to ramp up its bond-buying program and push interest rates deeper into negative territory at the conclusion of their monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

China Shares Down Due to Weak Metals Prices, Steel Plant Concerns

Shanghai Composite Index six-straight sessions of gains halted as China shares went down Wednesday amid concerns on metals prices and the consolidation of steel plants.

The Shanghai Composite Index loss about 1.4%, that ended their six-session winning streak, dragged by losses in basic materials and energy shares. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index ended 2.1% down. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was dragged to a 0.1% loss.   

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.35%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1%. In Japan, the Nikkei sold off for the second straight day, giving back 0.8% as a stronger yen weighed on major exporters again.

In China, shares of steel producers plunged after the official news agency Xinhua reported that the governor of Hebei, a northern province near Beijing, said the province aims to close 60% of its steel factories by 2020. That report sparked selling of steel-related stocks. Shanghai Hualian Mining was down 8.2%, and Shandong Jinling Mining lost 8%.

Forbes Richest Man in the World 2016: Bill Gates

Bill Gates retains the record of being the richest person in the world for the 3rd year in the row according to Forbes Billionaires list. The Microsoft co-founder bag the top spot as the world's wealthiest businessman by Forbes in their 2016 list of top billionaires. Gates tops with $75bn. It's now his 17 times being on the top spot in 22 years.

This year's list featured 1,810 billionaires across the world. Combined, they have a net worth of nearly $6.5 trillion.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also reached the top ten for the first time. Zuckerberg is this years biggest gainer, it's his best year earning over $11bn.

Here are the rest of the business moguls rounding the top 10:

    1. Bill Gates, US, $75bn
    2. Amancio Ortega, Spain, $67bn
    3. Warren Buffett, US, $60.8bn
    4. Carlos Slim Helu, Mexico, $50bn
    5. Jeff Bezos, US, $45.2bn
    6. Mark Zuckerberg, US, $44.6bn
    7. Larry Ellison, US, $43.6bn
    8. Michael Bloomberg, US, $40bn
    9. Charles Koch, US, $39.6bn
    10. David Koch, US, $39.6bn