Natural gas futures fell off January 29 highs for the third straight session, as the dollar index rebounded from October 22 lows, following earlier data from China, the world's largest energy importer, and the US, which showed another inventory build for the 27th meeting in a row. 

As of 06:35 GMT, natural gas futures due in December fell 0.48% to $3.54 per million British thermal units away from ten-month highs, while the dollar index rose 0.29% to 96.28 away from two-month lows. 

Earlier Chinese data showed the trade surplus up to 234 billion yuan, or $34 billion, compared to 213 billion yuan in September, while analysts expected only 209 billion. 

Official Chinese customs data showed natural gas imports surged 25.6% in October y/y to 7.3 million tonnes, but still below September's 7.62 million levels. 

US Inventory Build 

The Energy Information Administration released its report on US natural gas inventories, showing a buildup of 65 billion cubic feet in the week ending November 2, adding to the 48 billion increase in the previous reading, while analysts expected a 56 billion build. 

Total stocks are now up to 3.208 trillion cubic feet from 3.143 trillion in the week ending October 26, making them below the total of the same period in 2017 at 3.788 trillion, while also below five-year averages at 3.829 trillion. 

Otherwise, the Federal Open Market Committee voted at the November 7-8 policy meeting to hold overnight interest rates unchanged between 2.0% and 2.25% as expected by analysts. 

Ripple tumbled over six percent, or $0.03 on Thursday away from October 2 highs on profit-taking after surging the most on Tuesday since mid-October as Ripple announced the launch of a new Dubai office to expand in the Middle East.

As of 05:48 GMT, Ripple fell 6.50% to $0.50569, with an intraday low at $0.5000, and a high at 40.5463, with Ripple's market value now receding to $50.8 billion. 

at the Global Islamic Economic Summit 2018, Ripple announced the launch of a new Dubai office, with Dilip Rao, Ripple’s Global Head of Infrastructure Innovation, stating: “I think the UAE government saying that 50% of all government transactions will be on distributed ledger technology by 2020 is a fantastic way to encourage innovation, to bring Fintechs to your market and then to then build the capability locally to iterate on those solutions that the Fintechs bring to you.”

Dilip also noted how financial institutions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman have already started to use XPR systems to process cross-border payments or conduct tests for the blockchain network in Ripple. 

The Path of Ripple 

It's worth mentioning that Ripple was first launched on March 7, 2015, to start trading at $0.015, with the virtual currency losing nearly two thirds of its value by early 2016 to $0.0059, before rising 5% during 2016 to $0.0063, and then skyrocketing 28,000% to $1.748 by the end of 2017, before marking unprecedented highs in January at $3.30, then losing up to 90% of value on a violent selloff wave that stormed crypto assets this year. 

Ripple then reversed nearly 80% higher in only a few days in September on positive news for the cryptocurrency and its standing between major financial institutions. 

The Federal Open Market Committee voted at the November 7-8 policy meeting to hold overnight interest rates unchanged between 2.0% and 2.25% as expected by analysts. 

Oil futures fell in American trade, with US crude plumbing March 14 lows, while Brent hit August 16 lows, as the dollar index rebounded from October 22, following earlier data from China, the world's largest energy importer, and the US. 

As of 05:07 GMT, US crude futures due in December fell 1.04% to $61.03 a barrel, while Brent January futures slid 1.17% to $71.23 a barrel, as the dollar index rose 0.29% away from two-week lows. 

Official Chinese customs data showed oil imports hit a new record high at 9.61 million bpd in October, up from 9.05 million bpd in September. 

In the US, the Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 400 thousand bpd in US crude output in the week ending November 2 to a total of 11.6 million bpd, a record high. 

US output is up 2.1 million bpd so far this year, marking a 22% yearly increase, while up by 37.4%, or 3.2 million bpd from mid-2016 levels. 

The US has thus became the world's largest oil producer, passing Russia's 11.41 million bpd, and Saudi Arabia's 10.7 million. 

As for US crude inventories, they rose 5.8 million barrels in the week ending November 2, the seventh such weekly increase in a row. 

Total stocks are now up to 431.7 million bpd, the highest since June 8, in a negative sign for demand in the world's largest oil consumer. 

Otherwise, International Energy Agency Fatih Pirol noted earlier how Venezuelan output continues to fall to possibly below one million bpd, while hoping that Brent prices won't gain further in 2018 past $73 due to the negative impact of higher prices on global growth. 

Iran Sanctions 

Otherwise, as US sanctions went into effect on Iranian oil exports starting November 4, eight countries were granted waivers for 180 days, mainly China, India, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Taiwan, and Turkey, already the largest importers of Iranian oil. 

In Russia, output rose to a new record of 11.41 million bpd in October, after averaging 11.36 million bpd in September. 

Oil prices lost 7% last week, the fourth weekly loss in a row and the longest such streak of losses since May, and the largest loss since early February. 

US Oil Rig Count 

Baker Hughes, a US oil services company, reported a decline one rig in the oil rig count to a total of 874 rigs away from March 2015 highs.