Futures slipped as the euro dropped against the dollar, curbing investor demand for raw materials. Floor trading was closed yesterday for Thanksgiving in the U.S. and electronic trades will be booked with today’s for settlement purposes.
With the U.S. markets closed “attention was instead focused on Europe and Ireland bailout talks, with sovereign debt concerns weighing on oil prices,” Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said in a note today.
The January contract fell 32 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $83.86 a barrel, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 11:58 a.m. Sydney time. Futures are 2.9 percent higher this week, heading for the first weekly gain in three weeks. Prices are up 5.6 percent this year.
Oil rose the most in four months on Nov. 24 after U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 2008, bolstering optimism economic growth will accelerate in the biggest crude- consuming nation. The Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits declined by 34,000 to 407,000.
Brent crude for January settlement gained 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $86.10 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday.
