Commodity Daily News

Crude Oil Tumbles amid Increase in Risk Aversion

Crude oil continued to fall throughout the day yesterday, as fresh euro-zone debt concerns drove investors away from riskier assets. The commodity fell as low as $96.24 a barrel during the European session before staging a slight upward correction. Fresh concerns regarding both Greek and Portuguese debt contributed to the bearish direction oil took. Crude often falls when there is a bearish outlook for riskier currencies, largely because the commodity becomes less attractive to international investors.

Whether or not crude will maintain this trend today will largely be dependent on the results of the US Non-Farm Payrolls figure, set to be released at 13:30 GMT. A worse than expected US jobs figure may weigh down on the dollar ahead of markets closing for the week. In such a case, the euro may see a boost which would likely result in a bullish reversal for oil.