Crude sinks

Weak economic data pressures prices

Crude oil prices ended substantially lower on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 at Nymex. Prices fell considerably due to weak global economic data, mainly at China and US front. The same questioned the demand for crude in coming months. Stern dollar also pushed crude prices lower.



On Tuesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for August delivery closed at $75.94/barrel (lower by $2.31 or 3%). Last week, prices gained 2.2%.

For the month of May, crude shed 14%. It was the biggest monthly drop for crude since December 2008. For the month of April, crude rose 2.8%. For the first quarter of this year, crude rose by 5.5%. Year to date, crude is higher by 6.2%.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies rose by 0.5%.

The Conference Board in US reported on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 that consumer confidence index plummeted to 52.9 in June, the lowest level since March from a downwardly revised 62.7 in May. Market had expected a June reading for consumer confidence of 62.8. The Conference Board's prior reading for May was 63.3.

Persistent selling pressure has kept the stock market near its monthly low today as investors pursue safety amid rekindled concerns about global growth. The Dow was trading lower by almost 261 points at one point of time.

Separately, the Conference Board, a private research group, on Tuesday revised down its leading indicator index for China to 0.3% in April, from a previously reported 1.7%. The same weighed on overall sentiments throughout the day.

On Tuesday, reformulated gasoline for August delivery, the most active contract, retreated 7 cents, or 3.1%, to $2.06 a gallon.

Also on Tuesday, natural gas for August delivery, the front-month contract, lost 19 cents, or 3.9%, to $4.54 per million British thermal units.

Crude ended FY 2009 higher by 78%, the highest yearly gain since 1999. It reached a high of $82 earlier in October 2009 and hit a low of $33.98 on 12 February 2009. Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

At the MCX, crude oil for July delivery closed lower by Rs 97 (2.7%) at Rs 3,529/barrel. Natural gas for July delivery closed at Rs 215, lower by Rs 7 (3.15%).