Print | Close this window NYMEX-Crude slides on demand, economic worries Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:05am EST NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell sharply on Tuesday, testing below $60 a barrel on persistent concerns about slowing demand as global stocks slumped and the dollar edged higher. "Crude and products futures are lower ..., once again led lower by sagging global equities as well as the view that China's stimulus package is insufficient to prop oil demand in the face of a prolonged global economic slowdown," Addison Armstrong, Tradition Energy, wrote in a research note. "All we need is one piece of negative news, such as demand destruction in Thursday's (International Energy Agency) report being even worse than expected, or the pull from the large open interest on the $50 puts on the expiring (on Monday) December options and the bottom could fall out," said Nauman Barakat, senior vice president at Macquarie Futures USA. PRICES * On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:53 a.m. EST (1453 GMT), December crude CLZ8 was down $2.81 or 4.5 percent at $59.60 a barrel, trading from $59.26 to $62.28 which was just below technical resistance charted at $62.65. Crude fell to $59.10 on Monday, the lowest since prices hit $56.10 on March 20, 2007. * In London, December Brent LCOZ8 fell $2.82 or 4.77 percent to $56.26 a barrel, trading from $55.86 to $57.58. * NYMEX December RBOB RBZ8 fell 6.99 cents or 5.11 percent to $1.2980 a gallon, trading from $1.2944 -- already below technical resistance charted at $1.30 -- to $1.3507. * NYMEX December heating oil HOZ8 fell 7.56 cents or 3.77 percent to $1.93 a gallon, trading $1.9250 to $1.9919. * The December heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $21.71 a barrel, and the RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at minus $4.90. * The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward December crude contract CLc61 showed an indicated $23.78, based on the asked price of $83.38 for December 2013 crude. The spread narrowed to $22.88 on Monday after ending at $24.95 on Friday. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $61.47/$63.87 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $58.00/$62.65 NYMEX heating oil: $1.9235/$2.0295 NYMEX RBOB: $1.30/$1.44 For a report on market technicals click [ID:nLB192036] MARKET NEWS * Economic gloom overpowered financial markets again sending stock and commodity prices sharply lower. [MKTS/GLOB] * OPEC may cut oil output by another 1 million barrels per day when it meets next month, an OPEC source from on of the group's core members said on Tuesday. [ID:nWLB3378] * The dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies, as concerns over a deteriorating global economy and weaker equities prompted shunning of riskier assets. [USD/] * European oil product stocks rose in October from September. Crude supplies rose following the start of autumn refinery work, data from Euroilstock showed. [ID:nL12609094] * China's October crude oil imports rose 28.2 percent from a year ago, fastest since July 2007 and the third-highest daily rate on record, amid a slump in oil prices. [ID:nLB211088] * China's October net imports of oil products excluding liquefied petroleum gas decreased 52.1 percent from September, according to Reuters calculations based on customs data. They were down 47.7 percent from year-ago. [ID:nPEK142314] * China "will pro-actively push forward reforms in key areas ... seizing favorable opportunities to further rationalize pricing mechanism(s) for refined oil products and natural gas," the official Xinhua news agency reported. [ID:nLB137140] (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by John Picinich)

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