Oil prices mixed in Asia ahead of Fed meeting

Posted on September 21, 2010 by

Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade on Tuesday ahead of a US monetary policy meeting as lingering fears over the strength of the American economy weighed on crude markets, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, fell 44 cents to 74.42 dollars a barrel on its last trading day.

Brent North Sea crude for November delivery added five cents to 79.37 dollars.

Crude markets were awaiting the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting Tuesday on monetary policy in the world’s largest economy, analysts said.

“We see prices edging down ahead of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting,” said Ong Yi Ling, an investment analyst for Phillip Capital in Singapore.

“We are still seeing lingering worries on the US economy,” Ong said as data released Monday failed to show an increase in US home builder confidence levels in September.

Data from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index showed that the index stayed at 13, unchanged from August’s level and lower than analyst expectations of a one-point rise to 14, media reports said.

The level was the lowest since March 2009, reports added.

By AFP

News provided by Associated France Press and edited by News Profession Web Team.

Oil prices mixed in Asian trade

Posted on August 16, 2010 by

Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade on Monday as concerns over the US and Chinese economies weighed on crude markets, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, added nine cents to 75.48 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for September delivery shed nine cents to 75.02 dollars on its last trading day.

Concerns about the US and Chinese economies, which are the world’s top two energy-consuming nations, have put a dampener on oil prices, said Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.

“The United States and China slowing down has got the markets a little concerned,” he said.

He added that the outlook for both economies was “less bullish than before” and was counteracting strong economic data from Europe.

An announcement last Tuesday by the US Federal Reserve that the US recovery would be weaker than anticipated rattled global markets.

On Thursday, a surprise rise in the new US weekly jobless benefit claims added to increasing gloom over the strength of the global recovery from recession.

Slowing growth in China, the Asian powerhouse which has kept the global economy above water in the past 18 months, contributed to the worries over the global rebound.

Oil prices mixed ahead of US non-farm payrolls report

Posted on August 6, 2010 by

SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in tepid Asian trade on Friday as traders locked in profits ahead of the release of US data expected to show rising unemployment in the world’s largest economy, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, gained seven cents to 82.08 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for September delivery shed nine cents to 81.52 dollars.

Traders were consolidating their positions before the release of a key US non-farm payrolls report to be released later Friday, said Ong Yi Ling, an investment analyst with Phillip Capital in Singapore.

“I think for the earlier part of the day, people will lock in profits” before an expected crude price dip when the report, which analysts forecast will show already high unemployment numbers rising, is released, she said.

Most economists believe July saw non-farm payrolls fall by 87,000 and the unemployment rate edge up to 9.6 percent, raising more doubts about the fragile economic recovery.

The pessimistic outlook for the non-farm payrolls report comes on the heels of a US Labor Department report showing initial jobless benefit claims climbed 4.1 percent to 479,000 in the week to July 31.

The numbers confounded most analysts’ expectations of a fall to 455,000.