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News :: Economy : Environment |
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Oil jumps above $51/barrel, dollar falls, stocks take a hit |
Current rating: 0 |
by Joe Futrelle
Email: futrelle (nospam) shout.net (verified) |
22 Feb 2005
Modified: 01:32:10 PM |
Crude oil futures rose almost 5% to above $51/barrel today, adding an emphatic punctuation mark to the rally of recent weeks. Oil prices are up about 48% from last year and now stand just $4 away from their all-time high last fall.
Gasoline prices, which lag behind crude oil prices, are likely to rise further as this price increase works its way through the supply chain. |
Although cold weather forecasts and the possibility of an OPEC production cut are part of what's driving oil prices up, a big concern for commodities traders is international currency exchange markets.
The dollar has been pressured downward by the Bank of Korea's announcement that it is shifting its foreign investment away from dollars and towards other currencies. Markets are extremely nervous about the prospect of Asian investors pulling the rug out from underneath the dollar, and stock prices plunged accordingly, with blue chips losing 151 points in late afternoon trading.
On the political front, Bush, who is visiting Europe, has offered no change to the U.S.'s rejection of the Kyoto protocol, which went into effect this month. At the same time, new sea temperature evidence published this month has finally proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that significant and continuing global warming trends are the result of human activity. |
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