Crude oil
Crude oil futures broke the 2-day rise, ending lower on Wednesday after the US Government reported a weaker oil demand still to persist. Light crude oil for March delivery ended down 25 cents, or 0.3% at $76.98/barrel.
Energy Information Administration showed a low oil demand in the last four weeks ending Jan 29 down by 2% from the same period last year. Oil demand fails to step over even the last year levels in spite of steady economical recovery during the last few months, and yet the indicator is now compared with the worst period of the year recession.
Weekly Petroleum Data released by EIA confirmed U.S. economic recovery not to be reflected in oil stockpiles. Now the market is focused on U.S. Department of Labor disclosure of January nonfarm employments data awaited on Friday. This is one of the most closely watched indicators. On Wednesday, Automatic Data Processing highlighted nonfarm private employment to decrease by 22000 that has been the smallest decline since employment began falling in February of 2008.
Gold
Gold futures finished slightly lower on Wednesday on caution ahead of Friday\'s release of U.S. jobs data, and as well as chart-based resistance.
The stronger dollar which was boosted by concerns over Greek finances and a smaller-than-expected decline in U.S. private payrolls data – also took gold under the pressure.
April Gold fell $6, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,112 per ounce. Shortly after gold closed, the US Dollar Index was up 0.319 point, or 0.4 per cent, at 79.333 points. A stronger Dollar often negatively affects US dollar-denominated metals like gold by making their price more expensive in other currencies.
Kind regards,
analyst V. Donin
