Crude oil rebounds on falling dollar, Wall Street tumbles amid disappointing economic data

Crude oil rebounds on falling dollar

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-20 08:46:35

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) --

Crude oil surged back above 116 U.S. dollars a barrel Tuesday after the dollar fell against the euro on a weaker U.S. economic report.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery hit 116.65 dollars a barrel before retreating to 114.53 dollars a barrel, trading up 1.66 dollars, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude opened lower as the Tropical Storm Fay missed oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico, easing concerns that oil supplies may get disrupted in the area.

The rally in crude started after the dollar fell against the euro from its strongest point since February 20. The U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday that the wholesale prices rose to the highest annual rate in 27 years. A lower dollar usually makes the commodities like crude and gold more appealing to investors as hedges against inflation. And it also makes crude more affordable to foreign buyers.

Meanwhile, concerns that conflict in Georgia may disrupt the pipeline link between Europe and Asia still weighed on the market.

In London, Brent crude for October delivery rose 1.31 dollars to settle at 113.25 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.

Editor: Liu

Dollar falls against major currencies

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-20 06:49:47

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) --

The dollar fell against major currencies on Tuesday as oil prices rebounded and U.S. stocks fell amid weak economic data and financial worries.

The U.S. Labor Department reported on Tuesday that its Producer Price Index rose by 1.2 percent in July, much higher than expected. Core prices rose by a higher-than-expected 0.7 percent after stripping out food and energy.

The Commerce Department reported that housing construction fell to 965,000 housing units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in July, the lowest pace since March 1991.

Wall Street dropped sharply on Tuesday for the second consecutive session. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 130 points. Crude oil prices rebounded above 114 dollars a barrel after a rally in heating oil pulled new buyers into energy markets.

The euro bought 1.4768 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4697 dollars it bought late Monday. The British pound rose to 1.8660 dollars from 1.8643 dollars.

The dollar fell to 1.0927 Swiss francs from 1.0978 Swiss francs, and fell to 109.82 Japanese yen from 110.17 Japanese yen. It fell to 1.0630 Canadian dollars from 1.0640 Canadian dollars.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Wall Street tumbles amid disappointing economic data

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-20 08:41:28

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) --

Wall Street continued to decline Tuesday, after the U.S. government reported worse-than-expected wholesale inflation and as investors worried that financial firms may post more losses.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that wholesale prices surged1.2 percent in July. The increase was more than double the 0.5 percent gain that economists had expected. Core prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.7 percent, the biggest since November 2006.The market had expected the 0.2 percent rise in core prices. Investors worried that the rising prices would weigh on the U.S. economy.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department said construction of homes and apartments fell in July to the lowest level in more than17 years. Centex Corp. and Pulte Homes Inc. sent homebuilder shares lower.

American International Group, the world's largest insurer, fellnearly 6 percent, as Goldman Sachs said it is "increasingly likely" that AIG will have to raise more capital. Moreover, JPMorgan Chase predicted that Lehman Brothers may write down about 4 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter. Lehman tumbled 13 percent.

Saks Inc. reported a wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter and a downbeat forecast for the year. The luxury goods retailer dropped as much as 14 percent.

The Dow Jones fell 130.84, or 1.1 percent, to 11,348.55. Broader indexes also traded lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 11.91, or 0.9 percent, to 1,266.69; and the Nasdaq fell 32.62, or 1.4 percent, to 2,384.36.

Editor: An

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