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Oil prices beat $62

21 May 2009 07:33 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil fell in New York, snapping three days of gains, after U.S. stocks retreated as the Federal Reserve predicted a deeper recession and a government report showed a drop in fuel demand, Bloomberg reported.

Oil declined after minutes of the April 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed yesterday that some members judged last month that the central bank may need to boost its purchases of assets to secure a stronger economic recovery. Total U.S. daily fuel demand in the four weeks ended May 15 fell 7.6 percent from a year earlier, an Energy Department report showed yesterday.

Crude oil for July delivery dropped as much as 69 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $61.35, and was at $61.58 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:42 p.m. in Singapore. Yesterday, oil rose $1.94, or 3.2 percent, to settle at $62.04 a barrel, the highest settlement since Nov. 10.

Crude oil may be poised to fall further, based on technical indicators used by traders. The 30-day relative strength index has climbed to 60.58 today. The last time it was near this level, at 60.90 on July 14, the oil price started a 22 percent drop from $145.18 a barrel to $112.87 on Aug. 18.

Brent crude for July settlement fell as much as 66 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $59.93 a barrel on Londonâ€™s ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Gold rose to the highest in almost two months. Immediate- delivery gold gained for a third day, rising 0.4 percent to $942.24 an ounce at 11:29 a.m. in Singapore. Earlier, the metal touched $943.10, the highest since March 26, taking gains from yearâ€™s low of $802.59 to about 17.5 percent.