Saturday, September 05, 2009
LONDON: Oil prices fell on Friday after the world s biggest energy consumer the United States reported a rise in its unemployment rate and as traders booked profits before a long US holiday weekend. Ahead of the employment data crude futures had been rising steadily, recovering from falls suffered on Thursday. New York s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, dipped five cents to $67.91 a barrel after the US jobs report for August. Brent North Sea crude for October delivery was 23 cents lower at $66.89 a barrel in afternoon London trading. The US unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 per cent in August as 216,000 jobs were lost, the US government said on Friday in a report suggesting steadying labour market conditions. The jobless rate rose three-tenths of a point to the highest level since June 1983, but the data nonetheless showed an easing of the massive pace of job losses in an economy struggling to emerge from recession. Elsewhere, oil traders were gearing up for next week s OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna to decide on the cartel s crude production levels. Angola, 2009 president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has said the cartel should maintain production at existing levels during the September 9 meeting. OPEC has influence over global oil prices because the cartel pumps about 40 per cent of the world s crude. In a mixed trading week, crude futures fell sharply from levels above $70 on Monday and extended losses before stabilising on Wednesday as official data showed US crude stocks had dropped by an expected 400,000 barrels.
Posts
0 comments
Post a Comment