SH: Commodities: Oil, gold garner interest as dollar dives
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Oil prices closed higher on Monday as dollar traders lost interest after the weekend’s G20 meeting.
The meeting of finance ministers resulted in agreements such as “refraining from competitive devaluation of currencies" but the rather hollow statements left many traders uninspired and failed to relieve pressure on the dollar.
Crude oil for December delivery gained 83 cents to $82.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit an intraday high of $83.37 a barrel as the greenback skidded to a fresh 15-year low against the yen and as the euro inched above $1.40.
The dollar is expected to remain under pressure ahead of expected stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
On Friday Goldman Sachs economists predicted the Fed could make $2trn in government bond purchases when it makes the widely anticipated second round of ‘extraordinary monetary policy measures’.
Dollar woes also whipped up interest in gold on Monday with the yellow metal rising 1%.
Expectations that the Fed will pump more money into its sluggish economy pushed gold for December delivery up $13.80 at $1338.90 an ounce, a one week high.
