The price of US WTI oil has taken another nosedive in early trading this morning, back to near $84 a barrel as the US Dollar Index made gains and a big drop in US oil stocks failed to keep oil prices steady. Latest WTI Oil Price US Light crude oil futures for November 2011 delivery was trading at $84.24 a barrel, 07.40 GMT this morning in electronic trading on the NYMEX. The contract closed yesterday’s session down 1.15 percent, at $85.92. US Oil Stocks Oil prices had risen in earlier trade after government data showed US crude oil inventories last week dropped 7.3 million barrels, a far steeper fall than the 0.9 million barrels expected and the biggest drop since December, suggesting that American supplies remain tight. US Dollar Index Gains The US dollar has once again strengthened on speculation the US Federal Reserve announced further stimulus for the American economy that won’t debase the currency. The ICE US Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against six major world currencies was trading at 78.490, up from yesterday’s close of 77.859. “The dollar has been undermined by quantitative easing because it has caused a huge drop in short term yields. This time round it could drive shorter dated yields higher, which at the margin is likely to be dollar positive.” said Kit Juckes, head of foreign exchange research in London at Societe Generale SA. The Dollar Index fell 3.9 percent from November through to June 2011, during the US Fed’s last round of quantitative easing.

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