Friday, 5 Feb 2010

Crude Oil Drops to $69.50 a Barrel

Crude oil is currently traded near a 4-month low, as it continued to drop sharply today from $73 a barrel today to less than $70. Concerns that European debts will damage demand for energy continued to affect oil today, and crude oil dropped for the third day in a row.

The U.S. Non-Farm Employment Change report for January failed to reach the first positive figures since January of 2008, as employers unexpectedly cut 20,000. However, the U.S. Unemployment Rate surprisingly fell to a five-month low of 9.7%. This has boosted the Dollar, and the EUR/USD dropped below the 1.3600 level for the first time since May 2009.

Looking ahead to next week, traders are advised to follow carefully for further indications regarding European debts, as this seems to have the main impact over the market at the moment.