Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
Crude oil prices fell Wednesday morning in Asian trade hours. Oil markets were weighed down by a firmer U.S. dollar which continues its recovery from better than three year lows it hit last week.
As of 2 am GMT, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $61.37 a barrel. This is down 42 cents from their last close on Tuesday.
The international benchmark, Brent crude futures were down 36 cents, or 0.6 percent, from Tuesday’s close. They were last fetching $64.89 per barrel.
It is looking like WTI Brent is beginning to range trade again. The range is setting up from $63.90 to $64.40 per barrel. Traders are waiting on a clearer directional signal before entering the market.
Looking at the U.S. dollar index, it steadied against a basket of six Forex partners. The index continues to recover from three year lows it hit last week. Traders are shaving off bearish bets against the sawbuck.
OPEC continues to Support the Crude Oil Markets
Traders are indicating that today’s declines in the black gold were driven by a continued recover in the U.S. dollar. A stronger greenback effects demand for fuel products, in dollar denominated oil imports. These imports become more and more expensive and have a negative impact on consumer demand. Especially with countries that use currencies other than the dollar to pay for goods.
The oil markets are still finding support from a strong growth in demand and production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This includes non-member countries led by Russia. This scheme began last year to reduce excess global inventories.
