Oil prices mixed in Asia, supported by US dollar nosedive

October 15, 2010 | 11:22

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SINGAPORE, October 15, 2010 - Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade amid a freefalling greenback and as bleak US employment numbers further raised expectations of an intervention by the Fed, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, fell four cents to 82.65 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December gained a cent to 84.21 dollars a barrel in its first day of trade.

Oil prices were boosted by a plunge in the value of the greenback, said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore.

"Oil futures are supported really by the expected continued nosedive of the US dollar," he said.

In early Asian trade, a euro could buy 1.4034 US dollars, a slight dip from 1.4083 dollars late Thursday in New York after reaching 1.4122 dollars in intraday trade, its highest point since January.

A weaker-than-expected US jobs report, which would normally drag crude prices south, was instead supporting the market due to its impact on the dollar, Shum added.

"The poor jobs data that was released yesterday helped keep oil futures at the current 82 to 83 dollar level," he said.

"Bad economic news in the US now means further impetus for the US Federal Reserve to print more money," devaluing the greenback and making dollar-priced crude more attractive to buyers using other currencies, Shum stated.

The US Labor Department reported late Thursday that government payrolls fell by 159,000 in September in the world's biggest economy, a bigger decline than anticipated.

The numbers reflected both a continued drop in the number of temporary jobs for the 2010 census and job losses in local government with virtually one in 10 workers out of a job.

AFP

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