الرئيسية
(Fixes dateline to LONDON, not SINGAPORE)
* Weaker dollar, stronger equities lend support
* Lower volumes could mean greater volatility
LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up near
$104 on Friday, consolidating after a heavy sell-off earlier in
the week, due to a weaker dollar and concerns over U.S.
sanctions against Iran, but the euro zone debt crisis continued
to limit gains.
Brent crude, which rolled over to February as the
prompt month, was up 28 cents to $103.88 a barrel by 1453 GMT.
U.S. crude rose 13 cents to $94 a barrel, after falling
$1.08 to settle at $93.87 on Thursday.
"Support is still coming from the usual suspects - the
weaker U.S. dollar and some strength from the equity markets,"
said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"Also after the sell-off over the last couple of days, it is
not surprising that prices are stabilising. We might see some
bargain hunting and possibly even a technical rebound after the
strong price reaction on Wednesday."
Oil prices have gyrated this week. Brent shot up to $111.10
on Tuesday on worries about restrictions to a key shipping lane
and then plunged more than 4 percent on Wednesday in a broad
commodities sell-off triggered by concerns over Europe and by
OPEC's decision to target production of 30 million barrels of
oil per day.
"The oil market is pretty steady today, but there is
weakness left in this market and further falls to come," a
broker said. "The OPEC decision will help the market come off
even more. It does seem like it's a one-way bet at the moment."
Helen Henton, head of commodities research at Standard
Chartered, also remained bearish on oil going into the first
quarter of 2012, citing a slowdown in the global economy.
"Brent has stayed quite surprisingly high over the last
month, given that we have had dollar strength," she said. "The
downside risks for Europe are quite significant, but it will
take some trigger to move lower."
* Weaker dollar, stronger equities lend support
* Lower volumes could mean greater volatility
LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up near
$104 on Friday, consolidating after a heavy sell-off earlier in
the week, due to a weaker dollar and concerns over U.S.
sanctions against Iran, but the euro zone debt crisis continued
to limit gains.
Brent crude, which rolled over to February as the
prompt month, was up 28 cents to $103.88 a barrel by 1453 GMT.
U.S. crude rose 13 cents to $94 a barrel, after falling
$1.08 to settle at $93.87 on Thursday.
"Support is still coming from the usual suspects - the
weaker U.S. dollar and some strength from the equity markets,"
said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"Also after the sell-off over the last couple of days, it is
not surprising that prices are stabilising. We might see some
bargain hunting and possibly even a technical rebound after the
strong price reaction on Wednesday."
Oil prices have gyrated this week. Brent shot up to $111.10
on Tuesday on worries about restrictions to a key shipping lane
and then plunged more than 4 percent on Wednesday in a broad
commodities sell-off triggered by concerns over Europe and by
OPEC's decision to target production of 30 million barrels of
oil per day.
"The oil market is pretty steady today, but there is
weakness left in this market and further falls to come," a
broker said. "The OPEC decision will help the market come off
even more. It does seem like it's a one-way bet at the moment."
Helen Henton, head of commodities research at Standard
Chartered, also remained bearish on oil going into the first
quarter of 2012, citing a slowdown in the global economy.
"Brent has stayed quite surprisingly high over the last
month, given that we have had dollar strength," she said. "The
downside risks for Europe are quite significant, but it will
take some trigger to move lower."