Tag: Price of oil

A jump in crude oil prices leads this week's edition of Futures File, our weekly commodities wrap-up. Oil market on fire Petroleum prices exploded to a three-year high over $74 per barrel on Friday morning on supply fears spanning the globe. Political unrest in Libya and Venezuela are restricting exports from those nations, while a major Canadian production facility is offline as well. More dramatically, the Trump administration announced that it wants to stop U.S. trading partners from buying Iranian crude oil by November as part of the reimposed sanctions against Iran. The Middle Eastern nation is the world's fifth-largest producer of oil, and cutting off the flow of its petroleum to Europe, Japan, South Korea and India will force officials there to find new sources, further boosting prices. Many had been hoping that global demand could be met by a jump in production from Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). However, the cartel announced last week that it was only increasing production by about 600,000 barrels per day, an increase that will likely leave the world hungering for more. This was likely OPEC's desire, as they historically restrict supply to benefit from more profitable prices. These sharply higher oil prices will translate into higher prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, propane and jet fuel, ultimately hitting consumers on numerous fronts. Grain prices rally On Friday morning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its estimates of this year's planted acreage for corn, wheat and soybeans.

Major markets in Asia closed lower on Tuesday, with Italian politics and the slide in oil prices in the spotlight. Banks and most manufacturing stocks saw declines. Symbol Name Price Change %Change Shanghai 3120.47 -14.61 -0.47% KOSPI Index 2457.25 --- Shares of insurer AIA, in particular, fell 1.79 percent before the market close. On the mainland, the Shanghai composite gave up early gains to close 0.47 percent lower at 3,120.47 and the smaller Shenzhen composite dropped 1.07 percent. With U.S. and U.K. markets closed on Monday, investors kept an eye on Italy. The leader of Italy's Five Star Movement party called for the country's president, Sergio Mattarella, to be impeached after the latter chose to veto a pick for economy minister. "[I]t's fairly light on the ground in terms of fundamental economic data releases today and so focus will continue to remain on the various geopolitical themes dominating market moves as we return to full liquidity conditions," Nick Twidale, chief operating officer at Rakuten Securities Australia, said in a note.