Oil slightly up ahead of U.S. data releaseJanuary 28, 2013 - 10:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil rose slightly Monday, Jan 28, a sign of investor confidence in the U.S. economy's recovery ahead of the release of data on jobs, home sales and the country's overall growth, The Associated Press reports. Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 14 cents to $96.02 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 7 cents to close at $95.88 on the Nymex on Friday after a report showed a cooling off in new U.S. home sales. The U.S. government will release monthly durable goods figures later Monday, and the National Association of Realtors will report on pending home sales for December. Later in the week, reports on weekly jobless claims and employment data for January are due. Analysts expect to see continuing signs of a sluggish recovery, even amid lowered expectations for fourth-quarter economic growth for 2012, to be released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday. "If 4Q growth comes in at the 1.5 percent we expect, it will have averaged 2 percent over the past four quarters ... Slow and steady is the name of the game," analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore said in a market commentary. Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, fell 10 cents to $113.18 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. |