Crude oil futures surge on supply fears
13/06/2014 09:45
Crude oil futures surged in the domestic market on Thursday as investors and speculators booked fresh positions in the energy commodity as an escalation of violence in northern and central Iraq raised the prospect of a civil war in the country, fueling fears of a disruption in oil shipments from OPEC’s second biggest oil producer. Al-Qaeda militants seized control over Mosul, the country’s second biggest city and moved towards the Iraqi capital of Baghdad even as the Iraqi Oil Minister said that US planes may bomb northern Iraq. Investors cast aside weaker than expected US economic data which showed a slowdown in retail sales gains in May and a rise in the number of Americans’ filings for jobless claims, signaling a cooling recovery in the world’s biggest economy, clouding the demand outlook for the fuel. US retail sales rose 0.3 per cent in May 2014 over the previous month, when they climbed 0.5 per cent. US jobless claims rose 4,000 to 317,000 last week. Crude oil futures may continue the upward journey today amid renewed supply fears due to the Iraqi conflict. At the MCX, Crude Oil futures, for the June 2014 contract, closed at Rs 6,290 per barrel, up by 1.55 per cent, after opening at Rs 6,209 against a previous close of Rs 6,194. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 6,309.
13/06/2014 09:45
Crude oil futures surged in the domestic market on Thursday as investors and speculators booked fresh positions in the energy commodity as an escalation of violence in northern and central Iraq raised the prospect of a civil war in the country, fueling fears of a disruption in oil shipments from OPEC’s second biggest oil producer. Al-Qaeda militants seized control over Mosul, the country’s second biggest city and moved towards the Iraqi capital of Baghdad even as the Iraqi Oil Minister said that US planes may bomb northern Iraq. Investors cast aside weaker than expected US economic data which showed a slowdown in retail sales gains in May and a rise in the number of Americans’ filings for jobless claims, signaling a cooling recovery in the world’s biggest economy, clouding the demand outlook for the fuel. US retail sales rose 0.3 per cent in May 2014 over the previous month, when they climbed 0.5 per cent. US jobless claims rose 4,000 to 317,000 last week. Crude oil futures may continue the upward journey today amid renewed supply fears due to the Iraqi conflict. At the MCX, Crude Oil futures, for the June 2014 contract, closed at Rs 6,290 per barrel, up by 1.55 per cent, after opening at Rs 6,209 against a previous close of Rs 6,194. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 6,309.
