The price of crude oil jumped near a one-and-half year high Friday morning amid a recent batch of upbeat macroeconomic data and as the US dollar was ticking lower following Ben Bernanke's testimony that allayed fears of an early withdrawal of monetary stimulus program.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for September delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.25 to $108.06 a barrel. Yesterday, oil settled higher tracking rising global equity markets on some better-than-expected initial job claims data from the U.S., following a more-than-expected drop in weekly crude oil inventories yesterday. Investors also speculated on the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's statement before the Senate Banking Committee that there was no set time line to start tapering down the Fed's quantitative easing program.
This morning the U.S. dollar was was ticking lower versus the euro, Swiss franc and sterling, while trading flat against the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's producer price inflation accelerated in June, and the figure matched economists' expectations, latest data showed. The producer price index increased 0.6 percent on an annual basis in June, following a 0.2 percent gain in May, the Federal Statistical Office said. The growth rate for June was in line with economists' forecast.
The U.K. public sector net borrowing excluding interventions declined to GBP 8.5 billion in June from GBP 11.9 billion last year, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. The ONS said PSNB has been reduced by GBP 3.9 billion of cash transfers from the Asset Purchase Facility Fund to government. If these transfers are excluded then public sector net borrowing in June 2013 was GBP 12.4 billion, data showed.
