| Oil price retreats as investors take profits |
| Date: 2011/1/5 Click: 1879 |
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U.S. crude oil futures price dropped broadly on Tuesday as investors took profits after it rose to a 27-month high on Monday.
Investors began to feel unsafe when oil, which hit 27-month high on Monday, and other commodities surged rapidly in recent days, deciding to trim their long bets and took profits, despite a report on Tuesday showing that the U.S. factory orders increased in November.
Not only the oil, but also some other commodities were hurt by profit-taking actions, as well as a stronger dollar on Tuesday. Copper fell about 2 percent in Tuesday's trading, while soybean dipped almost 1 percent, which hit its highest level since mid- 2008 recently.
Also, the Fed's comment on the economic situation hurt the market's confidence and pressured the oil price. The Fed minutes of December meeting released on Tuesday said the economy wasn't improving fast enough to make a noticeable dent in unemployment, and reiterated it would stick to its 600-billion bond-buying program to stimulate the economy.
Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 1.72 U.S. dollars to 89.83 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. |
