BLBG: Crude Oil Trades Little Changed as Dollar Gains Against Euro
By Alexander Kwiatkowski
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed, giving up earlier gains, as the dollar advanced against the euro, reducing the appeal of commodities to investors.
Oil traded near $85 a barrel as the euro dropped for the seventh time in eight days on concern the European Union-led Greek bailout plan will be held up. Crude prices rose earlier, tracking global stock markets, as economic reports pointed to faster global growth.
“The market is still under the spell of macroeconomic factors like economic optimism, the dollar and high liquidity,” said Eugen Weinberg, senior analyst with Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “The situation in Greece has an indirect impact on the oil markets through the U.S. dollar and equity markets.”
Crude oil for June delivery traded at $84.86 a barrel, down 26 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 10:39 a.m. London time. Brent crude for June settlement was down 22 cents at $87.03 on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Oil climbed 1.7 percent to $85.12 in New York on April 23, the highest settlement since April 15, after government reports showed U.S. sales of new homes surged in March and orders for non-transport durable goods climbed.
The dollar advanced to $1.3304 against the euro, after dipping as low as $1.3397. The euro fell against all 16 of its most-traded peers on concern the Greek bailout plan will face hurdles as donor countries begin ratifying the aid package.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the Bild- am-Sonntag newspaper yesterday that his nation’s aid for Greece can still be rejected.
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their bets on rising oil prices in the week ended April 20, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
Speculative net-long positions, the difference between orders to buy and sell the commodity, increased 7 percent to 121,475 contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission said last week.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in London at
