CRUDE DIPS AS INVESTORS TAKE PROFITS FROM GEOPOLITICAL RALLY

Webdesk, Mumbai, 18^th July, 2017: Crude futures slid on Friday after investors locked in gains from concerns geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and in Israel will disrupt supplies and sold the commodity for profits. In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in August traded down 0.06% at $103.13 a barrel during U.S. trading. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $102.59 a barrel and a high of $103.94 a barrel. The August contract settled up 1.97% at $103.19 a barrel on Thursday. Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $99.01 a barrel, Tuesday’s low, and resistance at $103.90 a barrel, Thursday’s high. Oil prices shot up on news that a Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down over Ukraine, with the U.S. blaming pro-Russian separatist for the act. Elsewhere, Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza to quell rocket attacks. “Following ten days of Hamas attacks by land, air, and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to de-escalate the situation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said on its website. Fears of Russian and Mideast supply disruptions sent oil posting strong gains until profit taking sent the commodity back into negative territory on Friday. Disappointing U.S. sentiment data softened oil prices as well. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to a four-month low of 81.3 in July from 82.5 in June, confounding expectations for a rise to 83.0. Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for September delivery were down 0.47% and trading at US$107.38 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$4.25 a barrel.

News Source: Money Control