Oil prices swung wildly into the positive territory yesterday. The rally eventually came to a halt around the $50 handle for Brent and $48 for WTI, and both contracts have been trending lower from these levels until an hour or so ago.
This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured markets that the Russian economy could withstand the drop in prices despite the ruble’s recent fall.
Mohit Jayachandran is breathing a sigh of relief. The 30-year-old engineer with Fluor Daniel, a multinational engineering and project management company in Gurgaon, near India’s capital New Delhi, says he will be having a decent end-of-year vacation this time, after a long year.
Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) dipped below $70 on to start the week as the commodity continued to free-fall following OPEC’s decision not to implement a cut. The commodity traded at $68.60 at 8:30 GMT on Monday morning as investors looked to economic data for any indication that the global economy could pick up.
Worries about the division between OPEC members remained a major driver of oil prices on Wednesday and drove Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) lower. The commodity traded at $78.73 at 8:45 GMT as investors kept an eye on the cartel’s debate over whether or not to cut supplies at next week’s meeting.
Brent crude (BNO, quote) oil began the week on a low note after GDP data helped confirm suspicions of a global slowdown. The commodity traded at $78.19 at 8:15 GMT, following surprising reports that Japan had fallen into a recession.
For oil traders and speculators hitting the sell button has become almost automatic, as the heavily bearish tone for the commodity shows no signs of abating just yet, with another solid move lower yesterday offering low risk trading opportunities once again.
Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) lost momentum on Monday morning after reports that Goldman Sachs had trimmed its forecasts for crude oil prices.
Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) remained below $89 on Tuesday as a global supply glut continued to weight on prices.
Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) nearly fell below $94 on Thursday morning as investors continued to worry about growing supplies and a waning global economy.
