Crude Oil Falls on Strong Dollar, Weak Demand, Wall Street Closes Higher Led by Retailers

Crude oil falls on strong dollar, weak demand

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-12 03:54:39

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices continued to fall Monday as a strengthening dollar and signs of dropping demand offset the supply concern caused by Russia-Georgia tension.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 75 cents to settle at 114.45 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude futures gained over the weekend as the conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia caused concerns about the potential disruptions of pipelines in the area. Price rose to 116.90 dollars a barrel in the early morning trading.

But the bullish mood changed after a cease-fire was proposed and different factors brought oil prices to as low as 112.72 dollars a barrel.

The dollar gained strongly against the euro and the sterling pound Monday, which reduced the crude's appealing as the hedge against inflation.

Concerns that high energy prices have taken a toll on consumption still weighed on the market. Investors turned their attention Monday to a report that China's crude oil imports had fallen 7 percent to 13.79 million tons in July, down from 14.83 million tons 12 months earlier.

Meanwhile, Iranian state-run media said Iran's chief nuclear negotiator agreed to a new round of negotiations with the European Union about its nuclear program, which helped to ease pressure from crude oil.

In London, Brent crude for September delivery fell 66 cents to settle at 112.67 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.

Editor: Yan

Dollar rises against most major currencies

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-12 04:59:58

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) --

The dollar rose against most major currencies on Monday amid falling oil prices and weak economic outlook in the euro zone.

Crude oil prices extended its slide on Monday after a report showed crude oil imports of China dropped 7 percent in July from the same period of last year.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell another 75 cents to settle at 114.45 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It briefly dropped below 113 dollars in earlier trading.

The dollar rose to the highest point in months against the euro on speculation of more slowdown signs in the Europe. Investors lowered expectations of a rate hike from the European Central Bank.

The euro bought 1.4928 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.5013 dollars it bought late Friday. The British pound fell to 1.9120 dollars from 1.9198 dollars.

The dollar rose to 1.0857 Swiss francs from 1.0810 Swiss francs, and fell to 110.02 Japanese yen from 110.24 Japanese yen. It rose to 1.0687 Canadian dollars from 1.0685 Canadian dollars.

Editor: Yan

Wall Street closes higher led by retailers

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-12 05:01:48

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) --

Wall Street rose Monday, as oil prices resuming its decline boosted consumer discretionary stocks.

Crude continued to drop Monday on signs that the U.S. economic slump will extend into 2009 and as investors appeared to set aside their concerns about the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the province of South Ossetia, which may disrupt crude supplies from the Caspian Sea. Light, sweet crude fell to a three-month low and settled below 115 U.S. dollars a barrel for the first time since May 1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

All 29 stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index climbed as crude continued to decline. Wal-mart Store led the rally, as Goldman Sachs said the world's largest retailer may exceed its own earnings forecast for the second quarter.

Moreover, Nasdaq increased more than one percent, as Amazon. comInc. jumped 9.4 percent. Analysts from Citigroup predicted that sales of its Kindle electronic-reading devices will double the previous expectation.

The Dow Jones rose 48.03, or 0.41 percent, to 11,782.35. Broader indexes also traded higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 9.00, or 0.69, to 1,305.32; and the Nasdaq advanced 25.85, or 1.07 percent, to 2,439.95.

Editor: Yan

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