Commodity Daily News

Crude Prices Up on Improved Economic Outlook

Crude oil prices surged to a 2-1/2 year high near $108.50 a barrel last week on stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs growth in March and weakness in the dollar.

The Labor Department said non-farm payrolls rose by 216,000 compared with economists' estimates of a rise of 195,000. The February figure was revised upward to 194,000 from an estimate of 192,000, while the unemployment rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8% from 8.9% a month ago.

A weaker U.S. dollar tends to boost the price of dollar-priced commodities as it lowers the price to holders of other currencies and reduces the value of the currency oil producers receive for their product.

Looking ahead, traders are advised to watch carefully the global stock markets and the major economic indicators which will be published from the U.S. in order to predict the next movement in oil prices.