 Oil prices nearly unchanged amid slow China manufacturing growth February 1, 2013 - 11:34 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil was nearly unchanged Friday, Feb 1, as weak growth in China's manufacturing failed to impress and more people filed for unemployment benefits in the U.S., The Associated Press reported. Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 3 cents to $97.52 per barrel at midday Bangkok time inelectronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 45 cents to close at $97.49 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday. The government said Thursday the number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose sharply last week. Traders will get a further indication about the strength of the jobs market Friday, when the Labor Department issues the closely followed monthly nonfarm payrolls report. High unemployment drags on the U.S. economy, leading to lower demand for crude and falling energy prices. "If non-farm payrolls increased in January by more than December's 155,000 gain, it seems likely that oil prices will strengthen in response," said Caroline Bain, commodities analyst for The Economist Intelligence Unit. She said that significant or permanent price hikes are not expected because the market is well supplied and U.S. stockpiles are high. Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose 30 cents to $115.85 a 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 |  Latest news Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia.Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements.Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of ArmeniaHenrikh Mkhitaryan wins Serie A title with Inter Inter Milan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits that the team have long been imagining clinching Serie A against AC Milan. |
