Futures dropped as much as 2.8 percent even after U.S. data on Thursday showed the nation’s crude stockpiles dropped by 6.3 million barrels, three times as much as expected. Investors remain doubtful that OPEC-led production cuts will clear a global glut, after Russia ruled out deepening the measures and Saudi Arabia showed less commitment than earlier in the year. “Oil remains volatile, unable to hold onto gains even after strong inventory draws in the U.S.,” said Jan Edelmann, an analyst at HSH Nordbank AG in Hamburg. “While the strong draws are a step in the right direction, multiple weeks of the same are now needed for the rebalancing.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.5% in November after slipping 1.2% in October. In November, the index equaled 114.7 (2015=100) versus 117.6 in October. “For-hire truck tonnage saw the largest single monthly decrease in November since the start of the pandemic and a total drop of 3.7% in October and November,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The decreases match anecdotal reports of a soft fall freight season as well as a slowing goods-economy generally. Housing-related freight is particularly weak.”

“The slow, and choppy, climb off of the bottom continued in October,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Since hitting a low in January of this year, tonnage is up a total of 3%, plus the index is up sequentially in three of the last four months. No doubt the freight market has improved – albeit slowly – over the course of the year.” In October, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 114.6 compared with 113.3 in September. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, equaled the reading from the same month last year. The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled equaled 121.3 in October, 8.6% above September. The seasonally adjusted increase follows a decline in September, which was revised up slightly from the October 22 press release.