Crude ends losing streak

Prices rise for first time in seven sessions

Crude prices rose for first time in seven sessions on Tuesday, 17 August 2010. Prices rose in tandem with US stocks. Lower dollar also aided in rising crude prices.



On Tuesday, crude oil futures for light sweet crude for September delivery closed at $75.77/barrel (higher by $0.53 or 0.7%). Last week, crude ended lower by 6.7%.

For the month of July, crude ended higher by 4.5%. Before this, in June, oil prices shed 2.7%. Crude ended second quarter of CY 2010 lower by 9.3%. For the first quarter of this year, crude rose by 5.5%. Year to date, crude is lower by 0.5%.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.5%. The dollar index dropped mainly due to the bounce by the euro.

Among economic data expected for the day, Producer Price Index (PPI) for July checked in line with expectations, but core PPI was a bit hotter than expected. Housing prices and building permits for July was both lower than expected. Also, industrial production for July increased 1%, which was more than the expected increase of 0.6%.

On Tuesday, gasoline, was a top gainer among energy products. The September contract rose 3 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $1.95 a gallon.

Meanwhile, natural-gas futures recouped some of their recent losses, with the September contract rising 4 cents, or 0.9%, to $4.27 per million British thermal units.

Crude ended FY 2009 higher by 78%, the highest yearly gain since 1999. It reached a high of $82 earlier in October 2009 and hit a low of $33.98 on 12 February 2009. Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

At the MCX, crude oil for August delivery closed higher by Rs 27 (0.76%) at Rs 3,556/barrel. Natural gas for August delivery closed at Rs 201.1, higher by Rs 3.4 (1.7%).