| Oil price hits new record of $US101.32 a barrel
WORLD oil prices hit a new record of $US101.32 ($110.48) a barrel in Asian trading today on renewed concerns over global crude oil supplies. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, closed overnight up 73 cents at an all-time high of $US100.74. The latest price spike burst Tuesday's record price of $US100.10 and record close at $US100.01. In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery settled 14 cents lower at $US98.42, after striking a record $US98.70 Tuesday. Prices have soared amid growing speculation OPEC, which supplies about 40 per cent of the world's oil, may cut output at its March 5 meeting in Vienna, anticipating a fall in demand at the end of the northern hemisphere winter and a US economic slowdown, analysts said. "Supply worries and comments by some OPEC members that the group might not raise output at their March meeting provided the catalyst for the sharp rally," said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish.
Dow up 90 despite inflation, growth worries
Stocks climbed out of a hole Wednesday, closing higher despite conflicting worries about inflation and economic growth.
Advances by technology stocks, led by an 8 percent rally in the shares of Hewlett-Packard, and energy stocks, reflected in a nearly 2 percent gain by Chevron, helped lead the market higher.
In futures trading, crude oil continued its assault on triple-digit barrel prices. Oil for March delivery rose 73 cents a barrel, to $100.74, its second straight record-high close, after trading as high as $101.32 during the session.
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Oil prices touch new high of $101.32
SINGAPORE: World oil prices hit a new record of USD 101.32 a barrel on renewed concerns over global crude supplies, dealers said on Thursday.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, touched the all-time peak in electronic trading before it lapsed.
In morning trade, the contract for April delivery which took over was trading at USD 99.76 a barrel, up six cents from the previous day.
Brent North Sea crude for April delivery rose three cents to USD 98.45 a barrel. .
Dow industrials up triple digits, reversing earlier triple-digit loss
NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- The Dow industrials rallied triple digits in afternoon trading Wednesday, reversing triple-digit losses seen earlier, as oil's surge to record highs above the $100 mark could no longer dampen enthusiasm over a slight improvement in housing starts and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (NYSE:HPQ) strong quarterly results and outlook. The Dow industrials was up 108 points at 12,445, with 22 of 30 components trading higher. Earlier in the session, the Dow was down as much as 109.50 points. On Tuesday, the blue chip barometer blew a 157-point intraday gain to close down 11 points as March crude oil futures closed settled above the $100 mark for the first time on the New York Mercantile Exchange. March crude was last up 73 cents at $100.74, paring gains to an earlier high of $101.32.
Wall Street rallies on optimism about rate cuts
Earlier in the day, U.S. oil futures set an intraday record above $101. In contrast, Tuesday's record high in oil, however, caused a late-day sell-off in stocks. Shares of Chevron Corp <CVX.N>, which began trading as a Dow component on Tuesday, rose 1.8 percent to $86.34 on the New York Stock Exchange. Chevron was among the major advancers in both the Dow and the S&P 500. Shares of HP, which reported quarterly profit that beat Wall Street's estimates late on Tuesday, climbed to $47.44, while IBM shares rose to $107.85. On the Nasdaq, shares of mobile phone chip maker Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O> led advancers with a gain of 3.4 percent to $43.37. Minutes from the Fed, which cut the target for its benchmark rate by half a percentage point to 3 percent at the January meeting, said it had lowered its growth forecast for 2008.
Oil price hits new record
WORLD oil prices hit a new record of $US101.32 ($110.48) a barrel in Asian trading today on renewed concerns over global crude supplies, dealers said. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, closed overnight up 73 cents at an all-time high of $US100.74. The latest price spike burst Tuesday's record price of $US100.10 and record close at $US100.01. In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery settled 14 cents lower at $US98.42, after striking a record $US98.70 Tuesday. Prices have soared amid growing speculation OPEC, which supplies about 40 per cent of the world's oil, may cut output at its March 5 meeting in Vienna, anticipating a fall in demand at the end of the northern hemisphere winter and a US economic slowdown, analysts said. "Supply worries and comments by some OPEC members that the group might not raise output at their March meeting provided the catalyst for the sharp rally," said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish.
Asian Stocks Rebound Fizzles Out
Forex: Carry trades continued at the start of the Asian session, as stock markets rebounded in a knee-jerk reaction to the Fed's emergency rate cut. But the rebound in Asian stocks lacked conviction, and carry trades reversed in the afternoon. "The very crux of the reason we didn't have a snapback (stocks) rally is that the market was calling for this already," said Peter McCorry at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, referring to the market's reaction to the Fed's 75bps interest rate cut. The NZD/JPY erased early gains despite talk of Uridashi issues later this week. The AUD failed to hold on to data-related gains after the stronger than expected Q4 inflation data, with AUD/JPY selling dragging down AUD/USD. AUD/USD is currently trading below the 60% retracement of its recent drop from 0.9021 to 0.8504.
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Share prices rebound 5pc
THE Australian stock market closed higher for a third straight day, taking its gains since the global rout to 13 per cent. The bourse was buoyed by gains in the big miners after base metals prices in London strengthened, and following a positive lead from Wall Street overnight. Copper gained 3 per cent, on improved sentiment in global equity markets. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index finished up 279.9 points, or 5 per cent, at 5860.3. The index snapped a 12-day losing streak earlier week after the US central bank made an emergency cut in interest rates to shore up the struggling US economy. Financial markets are betting the US Federal Reserve will cut again next week. The broader All Ordinaries closed up 280.5 points, or 5 per cent, at 5886.3. US equity markets were higher overnight following some solid earnings reports and after the Bush administration said 117 million US families would receive a tax rebate cheque in a move designed to stimulate the world's largest economy.
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