Friday, Oct 26, 2012
By Jenny Gross
LONDON--Crude oil futures retreated slightly Friday, tracking regional equities amid weak economic sentiment in Europe.
At 1005 GMT, the December Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was down 33 cents, or 0.3%, at $108.16 a barrel. The front-month contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading down 69 cents, or 0.3%, at $85.36 a barrel.
Crude oil tracked losses in European equities. Standard & Poor's Corp. downgraded BNP Paribas S.A.'s (BNP.FR, BNPQY) rating and lowered its outlook on Societe Generale S.A. (GLE.FR, SCGLY) and Credit Agricole S.A. (ACA.FR, CRARY) to negative, citing economic risk in France and southern Europe..
"The financial markets are clearly the dominant force at the moment rather than supply-side risks, of which there are still many," analysts at Commerzbank said in a note Friday. Commerzbank said Hurricane Sandy, should it hit the U.S. east coast next week, could cause the shutdown of refineries there.
Torbjorn Kjus, oil market analyst at DnB NOR, said technical charts have been driving market prices. "The level is approaching the 100-day moving average, and it could be important to watch those technical signals in the next couple of days."
Market participants will keep their eyes on U.S. third-quarter growth figures, due Friday. Mr. Kjus said that if the numbers come in higher than expected, oil prices will likely immediately move higher, but this won't hold for more than a few days unless the figures are exceptionally strong and the market is convinced they'll get stronger.
At 1007 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for November delivery was trading $1.00 higher, or 0.1%, at $959.00 per metric ton. Nymex gasoline for November delivery was up 23 points, or 0.1%, at $2.6787 per gallon.
Write to Jenny Gross at jenny.gross@dowjones.com; Twitter: @jgginlondon
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 26, 2012 06:38 ET (10:38 GMT)
