Asia’s gasoline margins dipped on Thursday as sentiments remain bearish due to a buildup in regional stockpiles.

The crack dipped to $4.40 per barrel over Brent crude, from $4.91 on Wednesday.

In naphtha, the margins dipped to $106.88 per metric ton over Brent crude from $109.33 on Wednesday.

Regional traders shared they expect the election of Donald Trump into the White House to have minimal impact on the spot market, but remain bullish on demand for the light distillate as regional crackers begin to come online after their turnarounds.

INVENTORIES

Singapore light distillates stocks rise by 2.173 million barrels to a 4-week high of 13.917 million barrels in the week ending Nov. 6, data from Enterprise Singapore showed. O/SING1

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 412,000 barrels in the week ending Nov. 1 to 211.3 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI rose by 2.9 million barrels in the week to 115.8 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

NEWS

Oil prices ticked up on Thursday following a sell-off triggered by the U.S. presidential election, as risks to oil supply from a Trump presidency and a hurricane building in the Gulf Coast outweighed a stronger dollar and lower crude imports in top importer China.

China faces a squeeze on supplies of cheap Iranian crude, which make up about 13% of imports by the world’s biggest buyer of oil, if Donald Trump ramps up enforcement of sanctions on Tehran after his return as U.S. president in January.

China’s exports grew at the fastest pace in over two years in October as factories rushed inventory to major markets in anticipation of further tariffs from the U.S. and the European Union, as the threat of a two-front trade war loomed large.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Three gasoline deals and one naphtha trade.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Haridas; Editing by Vijay Kishore)