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Oil prices slipped to near $84 a barrel Tuesday as fears of a
recession in developed countries sent stock markets and commodities
lower.
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By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for October delivery
was down $2.32 to $84.13 in electronic trading on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Crude last settled at $86.45 on Friday because
U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day
holiday.
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Growing concern that a debt crisis among countries using the euro
currency will undermine economic growth there and around the world
helped push most Asian and European stock markets lower during the
last few sessions.
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On Tuesday, however, some exchanges in Europe recovered as bargain
hunters bought into the market. London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.9
percent, while the Swiss SSMI gained nearly 4 percent after the
country’s central bank took steps to weaken the Swiss franc and
help boost exports.
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A stagnant U.S. jobs market is also hurting confidence. The Labor
Department said Friday that U.S. employers stopped adding jobs in
August and the unemployment rate remained at 9.1
percent.
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“Bottom line, it’s not unreasonable to suggest the U.S. is in a
jobs depression,” energy consultant The Schork Group said in a
report.
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President Barack Obama is scheduled to announce new policy measures
to spark job creation in a speech Thursday.
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In London, Brent crude for October delivery was up 94 cents at
$111.02 on the ICE Futures exchange.
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“The price of Brent is currently being supported mainly by
speculation of further quantitative easing of U.S. monetary
policy,” said analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “In addition,
the hurricane season in the U.S. is providing psychological
support. That said, we do not believe these factors could prevent a
sharper price fall if recession fears continue to grow.”
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In other Nymex trading for October contracts, heating oil fell 2.73
cents to $2.9701 per gallon and gasoline futures dropped 4.18 cents
to $2.7978 per gallon. Natural gas for October delivery gained 2.5
cents to $3.897 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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—
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Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.
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