In the early Asian trading session, Brent crude oil futures prices experienced a slight retreat after breaking through $80 per barrel on the previous trading day, with the market closely watching whether China will further introduce stimulus policies.

As of 12 o'clock Beijing time, the Brent crude oil December contract was quoted at $79.69 per barrel, down $1.24 from the settlement price on October 7. The settlement price on October 7 rose by $2.88 from the previous trading day.

The New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil November contract was quoted at $75.87 per barrel, down $1.27 from the settlement price on October 7. The settlement price on October 7 increased by $2.76 from the previous trading day.

On the previous trading day, oil prices surged to the highest point since August, due to the escalating tension in the market over the possibility of Israel striking Iran's oil infrastructure, in retaliation for Iran's missile attack on Israel on October 1.

With China ending the Golden Week holiday on October 8, the market reopens, and traders are closely monitoring market dynamics. A series of new measures announced before the holiday, including rate cuts, lower bank cash reserve requirements, and relaxed housing restrictions, have had a positive impact on the market, with the Chinese stock market index soaring over 25%. This reignites hopes for China's economic growth rate to approach the target level in 2024.

Railroads on the East Coast of the USA are preparing for the arrival of the second major hurricane, despite still recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Helen two weeks ago.

CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) are preparing for Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall in Florida on or before October 8th or 9th. Hurricane Milton has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane, with winds reaching 175 miles per hour on October 7. The storm is expected to violently hit the Gulf Coast of Florida, then may turn northeast, sweeping across Tennessee and the Carolinas.

Chevron announced on October 8th that due to Hurricane Milton intensifying into a Category 5 storm and heading towards the west coast of Florida, the company has evacuated and shut down the Blind Faith oil & gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company stated that the production at its other operational facilities in the region remains at normal levels. The daily production of the Blind Faith platform is 0.065 million barrels, located about 160 miles southeast of New Orleans.

(The above content is from Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)