{"id":17276,"date":"2010-12-24T07:27:53","date_gmt":"2010-12-24T12:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/?p=17276"},"modified":"2010-12-24T07:27:53","modified_gmt":"2010-12-24T12:27:53","slug":"crude-futures-soar-above-91-a-barrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2010\/12\/24\/crude-futures-soar-above-91-a-barrel\/","title":{"rendered":"Crude Futures Soar above $91 a Barrel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Source: <em><strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forexyard.com\/?zone_id=1398\" target=\"_blank\">ForexYard<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Crude futures hit a two-year high Thursday, reaching above $91 a barrel  as several economic data releases from the U.S offered a brighter  economic outlook for the world&#8217;s largest oil consumer.<\/p>\n<h2>Economic News<\/h2>\n<h3>USD &#8211; Dollar Lower in Light, Volatile Trading<\/h3>\n<p>The U.S. dollar fell versus most of its counterparts as data released  from the U.S. signaled that the American economic recovery is  strengthening, raising demand for higher yielding currencies.<\/p>\n<p>Weekly  U.S. jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 420,000 last week, a larger drop  than expected. Core Durable Goods Orders rose in December while New Home  sales showed some recovery in November, despite coming out lower than  expected.<\/p>\n<p>The greenback weakened 1% against the New Zealand  dollar to 74.72 U.S. cents from 74.02 cents yesterday. The U.S. currency  slid 0.5% versus the Australian dollar to $1.0042 from 99.90 cents. The  Canadian dollar moved back towards parity with the USD as crude oil  futures soared.<\/p>\n<p>The dollar fell 0.8% to 82.92 yen, the weakest  since Dec. 14, from 83.57 yen yesterday. It fell to $1.3130 per euro  from $1.3100 euro as well.<\/p>\n<p>Trading flows were light Thursday  causing a volatile trading session, this trend is likely to continue  today and traders are advised to take advantage of the expected market  volatility.<\/p>\n<h3>EUR &#8211; EUR Lower vs. Major Currency Pairs<\/h3>\n<p>The EUR stayed in a tight range versus the U.S. dollar Thursday; the  common currency remained down for this week, heading toward an 8.5%  decline for the year. In June, it fell under $1.20 for the first time  since 2006.The euro fell to a record low versus the Swiss franc,  reaching a low of 1.2553; however, it has since rebounded slightly,  currently trading at 1.2573.<\/p>\n<p>The U.K. pound strengthened versus  the EUR and USD after a Greek newspaper reported officials and bankers  have decided on a debt restructuring plan to begin after 2013. The GBP  rose to 85.04 pence per euro from 85.14 pence yesterday. The sterling  gained to $1.5440, from $1.5386 yesterday, when it reached $1.5356, its  weakest level since September.<\/p>\n<p>With market volume and liquidity at a quarter of its normal volume, sharp moves in the currency pair may be expected.<\/p>\n<h3>JPY &#8211; JPY Lower as Economic Outlook Brightens<\/h3>\n<p>The yen fell against all of its major peers as prospects of gradual  recoveries in the world&#8217;s largest economies brighten. The yen fell to  109.02 per euro from 108.74 in New York yesterday. Against the dollar it  fell 0.2% to 83.06 yen, paring this week&#8217;s advance.<\/p>\n<p>With very  low liquidity, economic indicators drive the direction for the  currencies. The Japanese currency, with its near zero interest rate,  loses attraction as global growth prospects intensify and it seems less  likely Japan will raise interest rates any time soon.<\/p>\n<h3>Crude Oil &#8211; Crude Futures Rise above $91 per Barrel<\/h3>\n<p>Crude Oil futures hit a two-year high Thursday, reaching above $91 a  barrel as several economic data releases from the U.S. offered a  brighter economic outlook for the world&#8217;s largest oil consumer. The  data, along with the Energy Department&#8217;s report Wednesday that oil  stockpiles fell for the third consecutive week, pushed oil prices to new  highs ahead of the Christmas holiday.<\/p>\n<p>Light, sweet crude for  February delivery finished the week at $91.51 a barrel on the New York  Mercantile Exchange, up $1.03 on the day. It rose to $91.63 earlier in  the session, the highest price since October 2008.<\/p>\n<p>With low  liquidity and high volatility in the markets ahead of the New Year the  next few trading days will be integral in seeing whether oil can hold  above the $90 level.<\/p>\n<h2>Technical News<\/h2>\n<h3>EUR\/USD<\/h3>\n<p>The pair seems to be in a tight range at the moment, trading between  $1.3140 and $1.3080, with most indicators in neutral territory. Waiting  on a clearer direction for the pair may be advised.<\/p>\n<h3>GBP\/USD<\/h3>\n<p>The pair may see some mild upward movement as a bullish cross can be  seen on the 8-hour MACD with the daily RSI heading into the over-sold  territory. Going long may be a good option for today.<\/p>\n<h3>USD\/JPY<\/h3>\n<p>The RSI for the pair is floating in the over-sold territory on the 4-  and 8-hour charts with a bullish cross evident on the daily chart&#8217;s  Slow Stochastic. Traders may be advised to go long for the day.<\/p>\n<h3>USD\/CHF<\/h3>\n<p>Some upward correction may be seen for the pair today as the RSI is  floating in the over-sold territory on the hourly and 8-hour charts,  while a bullish cross is seen on the 4-hour chart&#8217;s Slow Stochastic as  well as the 8-hour MACD. Going long for the day may be advised.<\/p>\n<h2>The Wild Card<\/h2>\n<h3>Crude Oil<\/h3>\n<p>Oil reached new highs yesterday, topping $91 a barrel; some  correction downward may be in store as the RSI for the commodity is  floating in the over-bought territory on the 2-, 4- and 8-hour charts,  while a breach of the upper Bollinger Band is evident on the daily and  8-hour charts, indicating an imminent downward move. Forex traders may  be advised to go short for today.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forexyard.com\/?zone_id=1398\" target=\"_blank\">Forex Market Analysis provided by ForexYard. <\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forexyard.com\/?zone_id=1398\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2006 by FxYard Ltd<\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              may           not          be                                  suitable                 for               all                                                        investors.                              There                     is       a                                                                                            possibility                                    that                                              you                             could                                         sustain  a                  loss                          of          all                    of                        your                                                                                     investment           and                                                                      therefore         you                                                         should               not                                          invest                                        money                 that                     you                                                      cannot                                      afford     to                                               lose.             You                                                  should                     be                           aware                 of                                    all                       the                       risks                                                                      associated                          with                                   Foreign                                               Exchange                                                       trading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By ForexYard \u2013 Oil reached new highs yesterday, topping $91 a barrel; some correction downward may be in store as the RSI for the commodity is floating in the over-bought territory on the 2-, 4- and 8-hour charts, while a breach of the upper Bollinger Band <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}