VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Oil prices rallied more than 2 percent on Thursday, clawing back part of a 6 percent slump triggered by a jump in U.S. crude inventories and record Saudi output, although analysts said sentiment remained bearish.

Wall Street is greeting what is expected to be the worst earnings season since 2009 with a gigantic shrug. Though there has been some selling in recent weeks, there's been no panic dumping of stocks, even though forecasts for S&P 500 first-quarter earnings have tumbled since Jan. 1, thanks to the surging dollar, falling oil prices and another severe winter. The earnings season unofficially kicks off Wednesday with results from aluminum company Alcoa (AA.N).

Oil prices fell towards $58 a barrel on Wednesday as industry data showed a larger-than-expected weekly increase in U.S. stockpiles and as Saudi Arabia reported record output in March.

The rising value of the dollar is hurting American businesses and could ultimately result in a slowdown in future U.S. growth, BlackRock (BLK.N) chief executive officer Larry Fink warned in a letter scheduled to go out to shareholders next week.

Oil prices jumped more than 5 percent on Monday as traders reassessed how quickly Iran might increase exports after a preliminary nuclear deal and anticipated that a months-long rise in U.S. crude inventories may be slowing.

Oil prices fell on Monday as officials from Iran and six world powers discussed a possible deal over Tehran's nuclear program that could bring an end to sanctions and allow an increase in Iranian oil exports.

Last fall, when the price of oil started dropping, fund manager Craig Hodges figured crude would rebound in 2015 and began buying shares of companies he thought would be unfairly hit, including construction company Primoris Services Corp and Eagle Materials Inc, which produces sand used in fracked wells.

Trafigura [TRAFGF.UL] is emerging as the new king of Russian oil trading, expanding its deal with sanctions-hit Rosneft to export $500 million worth of crude in April from the Baltic, the Mediterranean and Pacific ports, market sources said.

Oil tumbled 5 percent on Friday, erasing the previous session's gains, as Yemen's conflict looked less likely to disrupt Middle East crude shipments and investors turned their focus to talks for a potential Iran nuclear deal that could put more supply on the market.

Oil prices fell more than $1 on Friday, after sharp gains in the prior session, as worries of a disruption to supplies due to Saudi Arabia-led air strikes in Yemen eased.

Tumult in Libya, U.S. rig counts, production plans of the oil exporting cartel and a pact on nuclear relations with Iran can all affect crude supply and demand, but oil traders have kept an equally close watch on retail investors in recent weeks.

British inflation vanished last month, hitting zero for the first time on record, official figures showed on Tuesday. The annual rate of consumer price inflation dropped to zero percent, from 0.3 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said, keeping a rate rise by the Bank of England firmly off the table for now.

Oil prices declined on Monday, holding near $55 a barrel after Saudi Arabia indicated it was now pumping near a record high of 10 million barrels per day, adding to concerns of global oversupply.

Pemex is set to launch its first-ever sales of gasoline mixed with cleaner-burning ethanol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Mexican state-run oil company said on Thursday.

Investors enjoying near-record levels for major stock indexes will scrutinize housing data and other economic indicators in the coming week for hints about the timing of U.S. interest rate hikes to see if the rally will continue.