Crude prices continue to dip
17 May 2010
Prices of crude oil fell by Rs55 per barrel, or 1.60 per cent, to Rs3,385 per barrel in futures trade today on offloading by speculators amid weak global trends.
Trading sentiment turned bearish after oil prices dropped below $70 a barrel in Asian trade as the euro weakened further against the US dollar.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) counter, crude oil for June-month contract fell Rs55, or 1.60 per cent to Rs3,385 per barrel, with an open interest of 8,395 lots. The oil for delivery in May also declined by Rs 47, or 1.44 per cent to Rs 3,217 per barrel, with an open interest of 29,518 lots.
Crude for delivery in June tumbled to an intra-day low of $69.82 a barrel in New York.
MCX crude oil futures are expected to continue their slide after recording massive losses in the last few days, on fears over Europe's debts, the weak euro and swollen US oil inventories.
The euro sank to four-year lows of near 1.2200 against the US dollar as worries over Europe's debt crisis led investors to pull more money from risky assets to the safest instruments like the 'greenback' and gold.
