Commodity Corner: Crude Oil Up 1.75% on Irish Expectations

Mounting expectations that Ireland will accept a bank bailout from the European Union caused the greenback to weaken, causing December crude oil futures to end the day higher Thursday.

Oil rose $1.41 to settle at $81.85 a barrel. After some reluctance this week, Irish government officials on Thursday confirmed that they were pursuing a loan from the EU to bolster the country's banking system. The Irish government's shifting position in turn provided some comfort to other EU economies grappling with their own debt crises. Moreover, it helped the euro to reverse recent losses and gain 0.8 percent against the dollar.

Front-month crude traded within a range from $80.44 to $82.35 Thursday.

Buoyed by the prospect of a busier Thanksgiving travel period this year, along with low East Coast inventories, gasoline surged more than three percent to settle at $2.23 a gallon. December gasoline traded from $2.16 to $2.24.

Natural gas for December delivery fell two cents to end the day at $4.01 per thousand cubic feet. The futures price fluctuated from $3.85 to $4.04.


Just click here for your FREE trend analysis of crude oil ETF USO


Share

Phil Flynn: QE2 Or Not To QE2 That Is The Question

While the Fed printing presses continue to roll interest rate worries are seemingly dominating the direction of the oil market. While the Federal Reserves prints more money rates continue to raise giving surprising strength to the dollar and putting downward pressure on oil. The Chinese stock market got hammered overnight after The Bank of Korea worried about inflation raided their base interest rate by a quarter points to 2.50%. The move means that more than likely China will not be too far behind as countries across Asia are reacting to a major onslaught of inflationary pressures.

In the mean time the markets are focused on the problems in Europe. EU members want Ireland to take their money as they fear that Irelands debt problems could spread to other countries. Ireland ion the other hand says that they are fine and is telling the EU that they do not need their help. Yet the EU feels that the fallout from Ireland’s debt could drive up borrowing costs in other PIIG countries especially Portugal, Italy and Spain. The EU is saying please take the money. Of course all of this global intrigue is impacting the......Read the entire article.

Watch > What a Difference a Week Makes....Is It All Over For Gold?

Share