RTTN:Crude Oil Ends Lower On Dollar, Hurricane Sandy
U.S. crude oil settled lower Monday, on demand concerns on the threat posed by Hurricane Sandy with a number of refineries on reduced operation or have shut down production in anticipation of the event. The dollar also strengthened against a basket of major currencies, with investors finding it a safe haven even as the hurricane nears landfall.
The New York Mercantile Exchange trading floor remained closed to facilitate mandatory evacuation due to the threat posed by Hurricane Sandy, but electronic trading continued its regular course.
Elsewhere, the New York Stock Exchange was closed on Monday and will remain closed for Tuesday as well, in view of the impending hurricane.
Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for December delivery dropped $0.74 or 0.9 percent to close at 85.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.
Crude prices scaled a high of $86.43 a barrel intraday and a low of $84.66.
Last week, oil settled near a 3-month low on demand growth concerns after an Energy Information Administration weekly oil report showed U.S. crude oil stockpiles to have increased more than expected last week. Investors also weighed some soft global economic data with Europe in focus
The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.2894 on Monday, as compared to $1.2942 late Friday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.2945 intraday and a low of $1.2886.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.28 on Monday, up from 80.00 in North American trade late Friday. The dollar scaled a high of 80.33 intraday and a low of 80.06.
In economic news from U.S., the Commerce Department said personal income increased by 0.4 percent in September following a 0.1 percent increase in August. The monthly increase matched the expectations of economists. Additionally, the Commerce Department said personal spending rose by 0.8 percent in September after climbing by 0.5 percent in August. Economists had expected spending to increase by about 0.6 percent.
From Europe, Sweden's retail sales increased in September, after recording a decline in the previous month, data released by Statistics Sweden showed. Retail sales volume increased a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent sequentially in September, reversing the 0.4 percent decrease seen in August.
