Oil Prices Rally On Weak Inventory Build

3 Things you need to know about today’s Markets:

Crude rallies

EU Markets to Recover

Toshiba Rallies after Chip Approval

1. Oil Prices Rally On Weak Inventory Build

Crude Oil WTI and Brent Oil extended a rally that started yesterday after refineries reported processing an average of 15.8 million barrels daily, compared with 16.2 million bpd in the previous week, according to Seeking Alpha. This means that inventories went down by approximately 3.7 million barrels. The weaker than expected inventory build reported by both the EIA and the API, contributed substantially to the rise of bullish sentiment among investors. Also, recent clashes between armed groups in Libya led to a suspension of production at two major fields, which together produced almost a third of the country’s daily production rate. This news sparked further optimism among traders who drove prices higher with Crude adding 0.3 percent and Brent oil climbing 0.2 percent at $52.62 as of 7:00 GMT, today.

2. EU Markets to open higher as investors digest Article 50

European markets look set to open higher on Thursday as investors continue to digest the official launch of Brexit proceedings according to CNBC. Asian shares touched their highest point in two years while the greenback was boosted by a weak euro. It should also be noted that the euro plunged after the European Central Bank announced that its easy-money policy is far from ending.

As Europe moves forward from an official divorce with Britain, trade ministers will meet today in Malta, to discuss negotiating guidelines for the remaining 27 member states, as well as other trade deals.

3. Toshiba Shareholders Approve Chip Sale

Toshiba Corp. shareholders approved the sale of its memory chip division in an effort to recover from major losses which resulted from Westinghouse bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg. It should be noted however that the shareholders railed at management and lamented the downfall of the Japanese icon. Investors took turns to hurl insults at executives during a Thursday meeting. The stock was last seen rallying after the chip approval to last trade 4.2 percent higher at 228.50 JPY as of 7:20 GMT.