Forexpros – Crude oil futures fell for the first time in 7 days on Wednesday, as euro zone fears escalate.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for February settlement traded at USD99.52 a barrel during late U.S. trade falling 1.82%.
It earlier hit a daily high of USD101.67 a barrel.
Weakness in the U.S. dollar added to the bullish crude price environment. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, gained 0.99% to trade at 80.93.
Dollar strength generally depresses commodity prices, as it lowers their appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Futures plunged as much as 2.2% after the ECB’s balance sheet indicated increased lending to euro zone banks. This signaled that the ECB’s crisis package isn’t sufficient.
Lessening of Iranian tensions added to the bearish oil sentiment on the session.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for February delivery fell 1.61% to trade at USD107.66 a barrel, up USD8.14 on its U.S. Counterpart.
This nearly USD10.00 spread has been narrowing recently, but is still historically high. The two contracts traditionally trade within USD1.00 of each other.
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