Commodity Daily News

Oil Prices Spike As Markets Open for the Week

Following a late week rally on Friday, crude oil prices continued to move up in overnight trading. Currently right around the 82.30 level, oil is up close to 70 pips since markets opened. Analysts attribute oil's bullish movement to the downward pressure the US dollar has experienced as of late. Investors often turn commodities like crude oil as an alternative investment when the dollar is down.

Today, with no news forecasted that will directly impact oil prices, traders will want to pay close attention to the Fed Chairman's speech at 12:30 GMT. Should the speech mention in any detail the level of quantitative easing the Fed is likely to implement to help revive the stalled US economy, the dollar may go down further. If the dollar does indeed drop following the speech, traders can anticipate that oil prices will increase further as a result.