LONDON (MarketWatch) � Crude-oil futures dropped on Monday in light-volume electronic trading, with a stronger dollar pressuring dollar-denominated commodities with U.S. markets closed for a holiday.
Crude-oil for March delivery slipped 22 cents, or 0.2%, to $95.65 a barrel, adding to a $1.45 loss from Friday.
Click to Play G-20 could Intensify currency warsFailure by the G-20 to take a more aggressive stance on monetary easing could help intensify currency wars. Photo: Getty Images
Nymex floor trading will be closed for the Presidents Day holiday in the U.S.
Oil prices were pressured by a firmer dollar, as a weakening yen helped boost the greenback. The dollar USDJPY hit a high of 94.20 during the session�a level not seen since May 2010�after the Group of 20 nations refrained from singling out Japan for its sharp currency decline in recent months. Instead, the group said it won�t be targeting exchange rates for competitive purposes. See: G-20 moving against �competitive devaluation�..
The dollar traded at �93.94 yen at the latest, while the ICE dollar index DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, rose to 80.618 from 80.475 in North America on Friday. See: Yen slides against dollar, euro after G-20.
Getty Images Enlarge ImageA firmer dollar tends to put pressure on commodities traded in dollars, as they become more expensive for other currency holders.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, heating oil for March delivery HOH3 was slightly lower at $3.21 a gallon, while gasoline for the same month RBH3 picked up 2 cents to $3.15 a gallon.
March natural gas rose 1 cent to $3.16 per million British thermal unit.
No comments:
Post a Comment