Crude prices slid further in Asian trade yesterday as markets reacted to falling consumer confidence in the US, analysts said.
New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery next month, was down US$1.01 to US$66.50 a barrel in afternoon trade from its close on Friday.
Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell US$0.79 to US$70.65.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Prices continued moving downwards as data released by the University of Michigan on Friday showed an unexpected fall in consumer sentiment, which spooked the commodities and equities markets, analysts said.
“The report showed a drop in consumer confidence and that weighed on the oil market. The oil market was also pressured by the falling stock markets,” said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore.
The report said that its consumer sentiment index dipped to a preliminary 63.2 from 66 this month, confounding most analysts who had expected it to rise to 69 and raising further red flags on consumer spending, the main driver of the US economy.
Shum said weak oil fundamentals would continue to put a peg on crude prices.
“Given the very weak oil market fundamentals, the mid-60s to high-60s is about the right range. The path of least resistance is down,” he said.
Crude oil may drop to test a support line around US$63 a barrel in New York should it fail to reach two key targets above US$74, a technical analysis by Commerzbank AG said.
Oil has failed to re-attain this year’s high of US$73.23 a barrel reached on June 11. A fresh rally will be capped in a range between US$74.54, the 200-week moving average, and US$76.28, a critical level using so-called Fibonacci analysis, Commerzbank said.
Failure to breach these points may send crude plunging toward a support line connecting the lowest prices of the past six months, the bank said.
“We would allow for probes into this key overhead resistance band, but would again allow for initial failure,” Commerzbank analyst Karen Jones said in a report on Sunday. “Failure here would once again cast attention back to support offered by the six-month uptrend.”
Crude futures for delivery next month traded around US$70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange last week. The six-month trend-line indicates oil would be supported against further losses at US$62.94 a barrel, the bank said.
“A close above the US$76.28 resistance would be significant as this would imply resumption of the longer term bull move to US$90,” Jones said, adding that this scenario was “not favored” in her estimates.
A level of US$76.28 a barrel corresponds to a 38.2 percent retracement of oil’s collapse from its record of US$147.27 in July last year to US$32.40 in December. The significance of this 38.2 percent move comes from the ratios between numbers in the Fibonacci sequence, used by traders to predict points of resistance and support.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu
RSS