HOME         WEBSITE         SUBSCRIBE           E-GREETINGS   
                               

Friday, December 18, 2009

Crude ends lower

Natural gas prices shoot up due to cold front 


Crude prices ended lower on Thursday, 17 December, 2009. Prices fell as the dollar shot up to three month high levels as traders mulled over the fact that Fed will take steps to boost the slipping dollar in current times. But natural gas prices registered sharp rise due to the cold front that has hit parts of US in recent times.

On Thursday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $72.64/barrel (lower by $0.02 or 0.2%). It fell to a low of $71.13 earlier during the day. Last week, crude ended lower by 7.4%. Crude ended month of November, higher by 0.4%.

Oil prices had reached a high of $147 on 11 July, 2008 but have dropped almost 56% since then. On a year to date basis, crude prices are higher by 62%.

Prices rose considerably yesterday after EIA reported that crude inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels last week. This was much higher than expected as traders anticipated a drop of almost 2 millions barrels for last week.

In the currency market on Thursday, the U.S. dollar rallied to its highest level in more than three months, supported by a rush to safety spurred by concerns about Greece's debt payments and a reassessment of when the Federal Reserve could begin to tighten U.S. monetary policy. The dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar against the basket of six other currencies rose by almost 1%.

In the latest report, OPEC, revised higher its forecast for world oil demand next year by 70,000 barrels a day, to 85.13 million barrels, citing demand from developing countries such as China and India. However, the cartel said the pace of recovery in developed countries, especially in the U.S., remained at risk and could dampen demand.

The cartel also said that the supply of oil from non-OPEC nations will likely expand by 500,000 barrels a day this year, slightly higher than last month's forecast. In November, OPEC crude production averaged 29.1 million barrels a day.

Last week, Paris-based IEA, hiked its forecast for 2010 global oil demand by 130,000 barrels a day to an average 86.3 million barrels a day. That represents an increase of 1.7%, or 1.5 million barrels a day, compared to 2009. The IEA also left its forecast for 2009 oil demand virtually unchanged at 84.9 million barrels a day, a decline of 1.6% year-on-year.

Among other energy products on Thursday, January gasoline fell 2 cents, or 1.2%, to $1.852 a gallon. Heating oil for January delivery fell less than a penny, or 0.4%, to $1.9574 a gallon
Also on Thursday, natural gas for January delivery gained 31 cents, or 5.6%, to end at $5.77 per million British thermal units. EIA reported today that natural gas in storage fell for the second week in a row, this time by 207 billion cubic feet. That was the second weekly drop in a row after nearly nine months of build-ups.

Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

At the MCX, crude oil for December delivery closed lower by Rs 22 (0.64%) at Rs 3,380/barrel. Natural gas for December delivery closed higher by Rs 16.7 (6.5%) at Rs 273.7/mmbtu.
Posted by

Blog Archive

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer - All investments in Mutual Funds and securities are subject to market risks and uncertainty of dividend distributions and the NAV of schemes may go up or down depending upon factors and forces affecting securities markets generally. The past performance of the schemes is not necessarily indicative of the future performance and may not necessarily provide a basis for comparison with other investments. Investors are advised to go through the respective offer documents before making any investment decisions. Prospective client(s) are advised to go through all comparable products in offer before taking any investment decisions. Mutual Funds and securities investments are subject to market risks and there is no assurance or guarantee that the objectives of the fund will be achieved. Information gathered & material used in this document is believed to be from reliable sources. Decisions based on the information provided on this newsletter/document are for your own account and risk.


In the preparation of the material contained in this document, Varun Vaid has used information that is publicly available, including information developed in-house. Some of the material used in the document may have been obtained from members/persons other than the Varun Vaid and which may have been made available to Varun Vaid. Information gathered & material used in this document is believed to be from reliable sources. Varun Vaid however does not warrant the accuracy, reasonableness and/or completeness of any information. For data reference to any third party in this material no such party will assume any liability for the same. Varun Vaid does not in any way through this material solicit any offer for purchase, sale or any financial transaction/commodities/products of any financial instrument dealt in this material. All recipients of this material should before dealing and or transacting in any of the products referred to in this material make their own investigation, seek appropriate professional advice.


Varun Vaid, shall not liable for any loss, damage of any nature, including but not limited to direct, indirect, punitive, special, exemplary, consequential, as also any loss of profit in any way arising from the use of this material in any manner. The recipient alone shall be fully responsible/are liable for any decision taken on the basis of this material. All recipients of this material should before dealing and/or transacting in any of the products referred to in this material make their own investigation, seek appropriate professional advice. The investments discussed in this material may not be suitable for all investors. Any person subscribing to or investigating in any product/financial instruments should do soon the basis of and after verifying the terms attached to such product/financial instrument. Financial products and instruments are subject to market risks and yields may fluctuate depending on various factors affecting capital/debt markets. Please note that past performance of the financial products and instruments does not necessarily indicate the future prospects and performance there of. Such past performance may or may not be sustained in future. Varun Vaid, including persons involved in the preparation or issuance of this material may; (a) from time to time, have long or short positions in, and buy or sell the securities mentioned herein or (b) be engaged in any other transaction involving such securities and earn brokerage or other compensation in the financial instruments/products/commodities discussed here in or act as advisor or lender / borrower in respect of such securities/financial instruments/products/commodities or have other potential conflict of interest with respect to any recommendation and related information and opinions. The said person may have acted upon and/or in a manner contradictory with the information contained here. No part of this material may be duplicated in whole or in part in any form and or redistributed without the prior written consent of Varun Vaid. This material is strictly confidential to the recipient and should not be reproduced or disseminated to anyone else.


Varun Vaid also does not take any responsibility for the contents of the advertisements published. Readers are advised to verify the contents on their own before acting there upon.


Published Credits goes to following sources & all the mentioned sources as footer below the published material- Bloomberg, Valueresearch Online, Capital Market, Navindia, Franklin Templeton, Kitco, SBI AMC, LIC AMC, JM Financial AMC, HDFC AMC, The Hindu, Business Line, Personal FN, Economic Times, Reuters, Outlook Money, Business Standard, Times of India etc.