Saturday, January 09, 2010
LONDON: Oil prices fell after news that the US economy lost more jobs than expected last month, dampening hopes of a swift recovery in the world’s number one energy consuming nation.
New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, dropped 44 cents to $82.22 a barrel. The contract topped $83 on Wednesday for the first time in 14 months before closing lower on Thursday for the first time in 10 trading sessions.
Brent North Sea crude for February delivery lost 46 cents to at $81.05 in late afternoon London trading on Friday. The American economy lost 85,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate held at 10 per cent, the US government said on Friday in a report highlighting a slow and painful recovery. The report “seems to set back at least temporarily some of the more optimistic views of recovery,” said Peter Beutel, president of US trading advisory firm Cameron Hanover, cited by Dow Jones Newswires.
“And with that of course, one has to reassess the prospect for higher oil demand,” he added. In earlier deals on Friday, oil traded in negative territory as the dollar strengthened and on signs of slackening US energy demand, analysts said.
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