US ENERGY – What to Watch: EIA US Gas Stocks
• The EIA weekly gas inventories for the week ending Feb. 7 will be released this afternoon at 10:30 ET (15:30BST). The expectation is for a draw of 96bcf according to a Bloomberg survey following a draw of 174bcf the previous week. The seasonal normal is a draw of around 144bcf.
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The NFIB Small Business Optimism index rose to the highest level since October 2018 in December, up 3.4 points at 105.1. The improvement in optimism appears to be largely driven by the November election result (we saw a similar surge in December 2016 after Donald Trump's first election as president). Of note, "the net percent of owners expecting the economy to improve rose 16 points from November to a net 52% (seasonally adjusted), the highest since the fourth quarter of 1983."
(MNI) London - Chinese state media reporting on a call between President Xi Jinping and European Council President Antonio Costa. On the call, Xi told Costa "China and Europe are partners [and] have no fundamental conflicts of interest or geopolitical disputes." Xi: "China has confidence in the EU, [and] hopes the EU can become a partner that China can trust."