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Oil touches $72.55 before ricochet

09 October 2009 07:46 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil fell in New York, paring its weekly gain, as the dollar climbed after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said monetary policy may be tightened once the economic outlook has â€œimproved sufficiently,â€ Bloomberg reported.

Oil traded near $71 a barrel as the U.S. currency rose against the yen and the euro, damping the investment appeal of commodities including gold. Prices rallied 3 percent yesterday, the most since Sept. 30, after the dollar declined and the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped.

Crude oil for November delivery fell as much as 66 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $71.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was at $71.24 at 12:08 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, it rose $2.12 to settle at $71.69. Futures are poised to gain 2 percent this week.

The dollar strengthened to 89.11 yen as of 12:37 p.m. in Tokyo from 88.39 in New York. The U.S. currency rose to $1.4722 per euro from $1.4794 after Bernankeâ€™s comments.

Oil yesterday touched $72.55 a barrel, the highest in almost three weeks, after Labor Department data showed initial unemployment benefit applications fell to the lowest since January. This fanned optimism over the prospects for a recovery in energy consumption.

Brent crude oil for November settlement dropped as much as 71 cents, or 1 percent, to $69.06 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract was at $69.23 at 12:03 p.m. in Singapore. Yesterday, it rose 3.8 percent to end the session at $69.77, the biggest gain since Sept. 30.