Moody’s Investors Service cut the outlooks on Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to negative from stable on expectations that the three investment-grade countries will end up shouldering debt burdens in Italy and Spain.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at USD88.09 a barrel on Tuesday, down 0.05%, off from a session high of USD88.14 and up from an earlier session low of USD87.98.
Elsewhere in Europe, yields on Spain's 10-year note spiked to near 7.50% earlier, well above the 7% threshold deemed unsustainable by the markets.
Spanish bond yields have soared after the government said the recession would last through 2013, a year that was supposed to see a slight recovery.
Eurozone policymakers recently arranged EUR100 billion in rescue funding for Spain to bail out its banking sector, though fears persist the country itself will need a financial lifeline even though Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos reiterated the Spain itself won't need rescue.
Regional Spanish governments have asked for financial assistance as well, with Murcia joining Valencia as the latest to request financial assistance from Madrid.
Greece will meet with multilateral lenders later Tuesday, though the commodity still fell on recent reports one of those lenders, the International Monetary Fund, was ready to pull the plug on participating in Greek bailout facilities on concerns Athens will miss debt-to-GDP targets.
Waning consumer confidence in Europe further pushed crude down.
A European Commission index on consumer confidence dropped to -21.6 for July from -19.8 in June.
The index hit its lowest point since August 2009 and came in well below analysts' forecasts for a -20.0 reading.
Demand for oil and its derivatives may be cooling in China as well.
A Chinese central banker warned growth could slow to 7.4% in the third quarter, down from 7.6% in the second quarter.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for September delivery were down 0.12% and trading at USD103.24 a barrel, up USD15.15 from its U.S. counterpart.
Crude oil futures closed july 24, 2012
Oil rose for the first time in three days as clashes in Syria raised tension in the Middle East and as China’s manufacturing may contract at a slower pace in July.
Crude oil for September delivery rose 31 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $88.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down 11 percent this year.
Brent oil for September settlement increased 4 cents to $103.30 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
For the latest updates on the stock market, PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
No comments:
Post a Comment