Crude oil prices rose last week above $111 a barrel, the highest level since September 2008, where the ongoing political tension in the Arab world, a region rich of oil reserves, boosted crude oil prices amid concerns over the supply of oil from Libya, where news emerged that oil fields were attacked, which led oil prices to rise heavily.
Meanwhile, we should expect the tensions in the Middle East and North Africa to continue to dominate crude oil movement next week, where the general direction seems to be to the upside, unless of course the situation in Libya changes.
Highlights for this week that will probably affect the Crude Oil direction are:
Wednesday 12:30, the U.S. will release the retail sales index for the month of March, where retail sales rose in February by 1.0% and expectations signal that retail sales rose by 0.5 percent in March, as consumer spending continues to improve over a gradual pace.
Wednesday 18:00, the Fed will release the Beige Book, where the Beige Book is expected to show that economic activities continued to expand at a moderate rate, while conditions in the labor market improved as well, and inflationary pressures continued to rise amid rising energy prices.
Wednesday, 14:30, The Department of Energy will release the weekly petroleum status for the week ending April 8, where the prior report showed that crude oil inventories increased by 2.0 million barrels.
Thursday 12:30, the producer price index will be released for March, where PPI is expected to have continued to rise amid rising energy prices, as the report is expected to show that headline PPI increased by 1.1% on monthly basis, and by 6.2% on yearly basis, while core PPI is expected to increase by 0.2% on monthly basis, and 1.9% on yearly basis.
Friday 12:30, the consumer price index will be released for March, where CPI is expected to have continued to rise amid rising energy prices, as the report is expected to show that headline CPI increased by 0.5% on monthly basis, and by 2.6% on yearly basis, while core CPI is expected to increase by 0.2% on monthly basis, and 1.2% on yearly basis.
Originally posted here
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