Crude Oil Climbs Higher

Wall Street opened the week on a positive note, closing the session with mild gains. The driver of the session was utilities and consumer discretionary, both closing higher by over 1.2%. The energy sector also had a feast, as buyers came back into the market despite the IEA’s forecast that showed a reducing demand until 2013. Political problems had its affect on the commodity market during yesterday’s session after Royal Dutch Shell PLC stated that it is going to shut down some of its production, due to recent attacks in Nigeria by various groups.

Crude oil extended its gains throughout the session, closing at $71.49. After presenting a pullback over the last couple of days, crude bounced higher yesterday and is now trading around its recent highs. With the Dollar still trading around the 80 level, another political incident could send crude into a new and higher trend. 


 

Dollar Continued To Lose Ground

Economic data and a lackluster session in the stock market sent the Dollar index to lower ground. Even though the index has broken out of its wedge formation, it is still holding its current levels around 80 points. Consequentially, the individual pairs are still failing to present any major movement.

The AUD/USD and GBP/USD continue to remain around recent resistance levels, while the EUR/USD, is slowly drifting higher. One must note that the markets are now preparing for an interest rate decision from the ECB therefore the intraday sessions could present high volatility.

Economic data also had a mild impact on the session as mortgage approvals in the U.K showed a better than expected result. Across the globe, Australia showed that their private sector credit had dropped presenting a negative 0.1%, while their HIA New Home Sales figure dropped by an astonishing -5.7%.

Market Data to Watch Out For

The U.K should take center stage this morning, releasing their GDP result and their Business Investment figure. Even though the GDP number is expected to show further contraction, the result could show a slight improvement releasing a -0.1% figure, compared to the previous -0.3%. This could be positive on the GBP/USD, especially as it has managed to regain partial strength despite gloomy data. During U.S hours the closely watched Home Price Index Composite will be released, showing further deterioration in the housing sector , while their consumer confidence should jump yet again showing a 55.8 result.