Friday, 31 Dec 2010

Crude Oil Rises to $92 a Barrel As the Dollar Weakens

Crude oil has erased all of yesterday's losses, and is currently trading near $92.00 a barrel. Crude began today's trading session at around $89.60 a barrel, and saw a 240 pips rise, to reach as high as $92.00 a barrel.

Crude oil prices rallied today, following a depreciation of the U.S. dollar against most of its major currency counterparts. The dollar saw a 120 pip drop against the euro today, and the EUR/USD pair rose above the 1.3420 level. The dollar fell about 240 pips against the British pound as well, following a better-than-expected British House Price Index results, and the GBP/USD pair has reached the 1.5660 level.

Looking ahead to next week, the most significant economic release looks to be the U.S. Non-Farm Employment Change indicator. This report measures the change in the number of employed people in the U.S. during the previous month, excluding the farming industry, and tends to have a very large impact on the market.