London: Oil fell below $43 a barrel yesterday, reversing earlier gains as investors expected US data to show another drop in fuel demand in the world's top consumer.
US crude was down 54 cents at $43.17 (Dh158.5) a barrel, after sinking earlier to $42.89.
London Brent crude eased by 59 cents to $42.83.
The downward trend for oil remained very much intact.
"$40 a barrel could be difficult to break, but we expect WTI to go lower in the coming months. GDP, oil demand weakness and the crude overhang are much clearer than Opec cuts so far," said SG Commodities Research said in a weekly note.
Oil traders were awaiting the 1700 GMT release yesterday of the US Energy Department's Short Term Energy Outlook, which was expected to show downgrades in 2009 oil demand estimates.
In a forecast issued last month, the Energy Department said total US oil demand was projected to fall by an additional 250,000 bpd, or 1.3 per cent next year, after dropping 1.1 million bpd, or 5.4 per cent, in 2008.
Future supply
The outlook for global oil consumption is very much on the minds of ministers from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets on December 17 in Algeria.
Opec is expected to reduce overall production by a minimum of one million barrels per day.
"Oil is on a count-down to Opec now and everyone is expecting them to come up with something big - probably a cut of 1 to 1.5 million bpd," said Rob Laughlin, senior oil analyst at brokers MF Global in London.
"If Opec doesn't make a big cut, this market is in trouble."
London (Reuters) Gold prices slipped one percent yesterday, failing to hold earlier gains, as a stronger dollar against the euro weighed on prices.
The precious metal ticked higher in earlier trade as a healthier tone to the equity markets boosted prices. However, the dollar strength pushed it back into negative territory.
Spot gold was quoted at $767.50 (Dh2,819) to $769.50 (Dh2,826) an ounce, off a low of $761.80 but down from $771.30 late in New York on Monday. Earlier it touched a session high of $776.45.
US gold futures for February delivery slipped 90 cents or 0.12 per cent to $768.40 an ounce.
"The euro came off a bit and gold is following suit," said Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance in Geneva.
The dollar gained against the euro as risk appetite waned as investors focused on the global outlook.
