U.S. dollar gains vs. major rivals; gold futures also decline
By MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures fell below $82 a barrel on Tuesday, joining a broad-based selloff in commodities, as the dollar gained against other major currencies and expectations rose that the OPEC oil cartel will leave production levels unchanged at its meeting later this week.
Crude for November delivery dropped 96 cents, or 1.1%, to $81.25 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
The contract finished slightly lower on Monday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will release its monthly oil-market report later today. OPEC will meet in Vienna on Thursday and is expected to make no changes to its production policy.
“OPEC quotas should remain unchanged after the 157th OPEC meeting and therefore not provide any support from the fundamental side,” said analysts at JBC Energy in a note to clients.
In other trading, gold futures also declined, while the U.S. dollar gained against its major rivals.
The dollar index (DXY 77.73, +0.29, +0.37%) , which tracks the greenback’s performance against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.4% to 77.777. A stronger dollar tends to weigh on oil prices because it makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
