Steady dollar and positive data pull up prices
Crude prices pared ended mildly higher on Thursday, 09 December
2010 at Nymex. Prices rose as the dollar ended just with mild gains and
the economic data for the day checked in better than expected.
On Thursday, crude oil futures
for light sweet crude for January delivery closed higher by $0.09
(0.1%) at $88.37/barrel. Prices gained 6.5% last week after gaining 3.2%
in November.
For the month of October, crude ended higher by 1.8%. In
September, crude prices ended higher by 11.2%. For the third quarter,
crude ended higher by 5.7%. Crude had ended second quarter of CY 2010
lower by 9.3%. For the first quarter of this year, crude rose by 5.5%.
Year to date, crude is higher by 9%.
In the currency market on
Thursday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar
against a basket of six other competing currencies, ended higher by a
marginal 0.1%.
Fitch Ratings downgraded Ireland's debt to triple-B-plus, the
third-lowest investment-grade rating, citing the costs of restructuring
the country's banking system and the loss of access to affordable
funding in the market.
The Labor Department in US reported on Thursday, 09 December 2010 that the number of U.S. workers who filed new applications for unemployment benefits
fell by 17,000 last week to 421,000. Market had expected initial claims
in the week to fall to a seasonally adjusted 425,000. Last week's
number was revised up by 2,000 to 438,000.
The report detailed that the four-week average of new claims,
meanwhile, dropped 4,000 to 427,500, the lowest level since August 2008.
The moving average is considered a more accurate barometer of
employment trends because it smoothens out quirks in the weekly data.
In the weekly inventory report, the EIA reported yesterday a
decrease for crude-oil inventories in the week ended 3 December. But
there was a surprise increases in supplies of gasoline and distillates,
which include heating oil and diesel fuel. The EIA said crude-oil
inventories decreased by 3.8 million barrels, against expectations of a 1.2 million-barrel decline. Gasoline inventories increased by 3.8 million barrels, and supplies of distillates rose by 2.2 million barrels. That contrasted with expectations of an increase of 100,000 barrels for gasoline and a decline of 600,000 barrels for distillates.
In its monthly short-term outlook report, the EIA reported earlier during the week that OPEC supply is expected to increase by 400,000 barrels
a day in 2011, 100,000 fewer than what the EIA predicted in November.
The Energy Information Administration saw supplies from countries
outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries rising by 1 million barrels a day in 2011, contrasting with expectations for a 250,000-barrel-a-day decrease in the EIA's November forecast. The EIA called for an increase of 300,000 barrels a day in OPEC supply for 2010, unchanged from the November outlook.
The agency also kept the view that global oil consumption will slow to 1.4 million barrels a day in 2011 from a projected 2 million barrels a day in 2010. Among rich countries, consumption in the U.S. is expected to grow modestly by 200,000 barrels a day.
Among other energy products on Thursday, January gasoline added 4 cents or 1.6%, to $2.34 a gallon.
Natural gas for January delivery declined 17 cents, or 3.7%, to
$4.44 per million British thermal units; it had earlier hovered around
$4.59 per million Btus. The EIA reported today that natural gas in
storage declined by 89 billion cubic feet. Market had expected to see a
decline between 82 billion and 86 billion cubic feet last week.
Crude ended FY 2009 higher by 78%, the highest yearly gain since
1999. It reached a high of $82 earlier in October 2009 and hit a low of
$33.98 on 12 February 2009. 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 closed higher by Rs 16 (0.34%) at
Rs 4,023/barrel.
Natural gas for December delivery closed at Rs 203.8, lower by Rs 3.3
(1.6%).
