Crude futures were slightly higher today due to stronger demand from bargain hunters, which were taking advantage of the low prices that declined from nearly US$80/barrel to below US$72/barrel last week. Commodity markets were in decline last week due to mounting concerns that the ongoing economic recovery isn’t as strong as thought and that Chinese economic growth, a key support factor for oil and metal prices, is slowing. These fears were triggered by disappointing updates on US and Chinese manufacturing that were reported last week along with a decline in the index of China’s leading indicators. The key jobs update released in the US on Friday showed a decline of 125,000 in non-farm payrolls, mostly due to the reduction of 225,000 temporary census jobs, while the private sector was shown to have created just 83,000 jobs. The unemployment rate unexpectedly declined from 9.7% to 9.5% to partly offset the disappointing jobs data. Equity markets in both the US and Europe crashed last week with the UK’s FTSE 100 shedding more than 4% to fall well below the key 5,000 level, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted to 9,600. The markets were broadly flat today as investors stayed on the sidelines amid lack of cues. Crude prices have recently been moving along with global equity markets as investors have been taking clues about the outlook for oil demand from movements in share prices.

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