Crude oil traded near a record in New York above $145 a barrel, set for a second week of gains, as investors purchased commodities as an alternative to flagging equities markets...
Crude oil traded near a record in New York above $145 a barrel, set for a second week of gains, as investors purchased commodities as an alternative to flagging equities markets.
Oil has risen 19 out of 27 weeks this year as money managers bought crude futures rather than U.S. stocks, which yesterday completed the longest streak of weekly declines in four years. The International Energy Agency said July 1 that spare OPEC capacity will shrink by 2013, keeping the market ``tight''.
Crude oil for August delivery was at $145.23 a barrel, down 6 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:26 p.m.
Singapore time. Yesterday, oil rose $1.72, or 1.2 percent, to settle at $145.29 a barrel.
Futures yesterday climbed to $145.85 a barrel, the highest since trading began in 1983. Prices have risen 3.6 percent this week and more than doubled in the past year.
The surge in oil prices is reducing profit at airlines and raising inflation rates from Europe to Asia. Shanghai Airlines Co., the city's second-largest carrier, said today it may miss its profit target because of the 113 percent jump in jet fuel prices in the past year.
Philippine inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in 14 years to 11.4 percent from a year earlier. The European Central Bank and Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, raised interest rates yesterday to stem increases in consumer prices.
