Oil Down, But Not Out, Amid Glimmers Of Hope
NEW YORK, July 23 (UPI) — Crude oil prices held steady in early Thursday trading amid continuing signs of a strong U.S. labor market, though major indices remain considerably weak.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, suffered a blow Wednesday, dropping below $50 per barrel to hit a four-month low. The price recovered somewhat by early Thursday, but stayed below the psychological threshold to trade at $49.47 per barrel.
Brent crude oil was relatively flat at $56.13 per barrel, but Thursday’s price is more than 10 percent below the start of July.
A report this week from the World Bank said all commodity price indices are expected to fall through 2015, in large part because of a surplus of supplies in a global economy still recovering from the last fiscal crisis. General energy prices are expected to be 39 percent below last year in large part because of lower crude oil prices.
“The earlier projection of $53 per barrel [forecast in April] has been revised upwards to $57 per barrel, reflecting stronger demand, especially in the United States,” the bank’s report said.
A survey report from Gallup finds lingering concerns about the status of Greek debt woes is spilling over into confidence in the U.S. market. U.S employment figures continue to show improvement, while European leaders say the regional economy will survive the latest Greek crisis.
“Now that the Greek crisis appears to be on the way to a resolution, confidence is about back to where it was before,” the survey said.
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