BLBG: Oil Trims Losses as Dollar Falls, Increasing Commodity Investment Appeal
Oil declined as European equities opened lower before a report that may show rising unemployment in the U.S., while the dollar recovered some of its losses against the euro.
Futures are headed for their first weekly decline in three weeks after falling 1.9 percent yesterday, the biggest daily decline since Sept. 16. A government report today may show the U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.7 percent from 9.6 percent in August, according to the median estimate of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
“If the jobs figure were to be negative, that might have some impact on oil, pushing it lower,” said Gavin Wendt at Mine Life, a director at commodity analysts Mine Life Resources Ltd. in Sydney.
Crude for November delivery fell 25 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $81.42 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 8:25 p.m. London time. Brent crude for November settlement was at $83.25 a barrel, down 18 cents, on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.
The dollar was at $1.3933 against the euro after slipping to $1.3962. The U.S. currency slumped yesterday to $1.4029, the weakest since Jan. 28. Investors tend to buy commodities when the dollar falls. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell was down 0.4 percent at 261.19 at 8:29 a.m. London time.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell at crussell7@bloomberg.net
