Friday, 15 Jan 2010

Oil Prices Down Due to Low Demand

Data published over the last two days regarding the US economy has shown mixed signals. While manufacturing is on the rise and consumer price inflation is stable, retail sales are slow. Uncertainty about the global economic recovery is sending investors back to the safe-haven status of the US Dollar.

Worries about several European countries sovereign debt continue to send investors away from the EUR. Currently EUR/JPY is down to 130.60, while EUR/USD is trading at around 1.4375 and EUR/GBP hit a four month low at 0.8840.

In other news, Crude Oil was trading in the red territory today. It is the fifth consecutive day prices are down, largely due to the belief that $80 a barrel is too high, as well as the strengthening US Dollar. Crude oil is currently trading at $78.30 a barrel.