Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 4/27/18

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 0.4% in December after decreasing 2.5% in November. In December, the index equaled 115.2 (2015=100) versus 114.8 in November. “Despite the small gain in December, for-hire truck tonnage clearly decelerated during the final quarter in 2022,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “In fact, tonnage outperformed some other key metrics that drive truck freight, like housing starts and factory output during the final month of the year. This is probably because contract truckload freight is still outperforming the spot market and less-than-truckload freight after underperforming both of those sectors in 2021.” For all of 2022, tonnage was up 3.4%, which was the best annual gain since 2018.

Futures fell 2.5 percent in New York. China’s oil refining dropped the most in three years in July, while crude output retreated from the highest this year. Libya’s biggest oil field, Sharara, cut output by more than 30 percent because of security threats, a person familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened, eroding the lure of commodities as a store of value. "We’re seeing some strength in the dollar, and the preponderance of news seems to be favoring the bears right now," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago, said by telephone. "If you look at the China data this morning, when it came to the China refinery runs being down in July, that’s adding to the perception of slowing demand, and it’s offsetting the concerns about Libyan oil production." Click Read More below for additional detail.

UPS announced first-quarter 2025 consolidated revenues of $21.5 billion, a 0.7% decrease from the first quarter of 2024. Consolidated operating profit was $1.7 billion, up 3.3% compared to the first quarter of 2024, and up 0.9% on a non-GAAP adjusted basis. Diluted earnings per share were $1.40 for the quarter; non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.49, 4.2% above the same period in 2024. “I want to thank all UPSers for their hard work and efforts in this very dynamic environment,” said Carol Tomé, UPS chief executive officer. “As a trusted leader in global logistics, we will leverage our integrated network and trade expertise to assist our customers as they adapt to a changing trade environment. Further, the actions we are taking to reconfigure our network and reduce cost across our business could not be timelier. The macro environment may be uncertain, but with our actions, we will emerge as an even stronger, more nimble UPS.”