Oil down slightly as some stability returns to commodities marketsApril 17, 2013 - 10:12 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil was down slightly Wednesday, April 17 as some stability returned to commodities markets after wild swings. Benchmark oil for May delivery was down 7 cents to $88.65 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 1 cent to settle at $88.72 per barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday. Crude was down almost 3 percent Monday, part of a broad sell-off in commodities that included gold recording its biggest one-day drop in 30 years. Gold and industrial metals fell hard after China reported that economic growth slowed unexpectedly in the first three months of the year. The world's second-largest economy grew by 7.7 percent over a year earlier, slower than many forecasts. Separately, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said it was lowering its outlook for world economic growth this year to 3.3 percent, down from its forecast in January of 3.5 percent. It expects U.S. economic growth of 1.9 percent this year, down from its January estimate of 2.1 percent. It expects that the combined economy of the 17 euro countries will shrink 0.3 percent in 2013. Lorraine Tan, director at Standard & Poor's equity research in Singapore, said that a "pretty sluggish" global economic recovery, increasing energy production in the U.S. and slightly slower growth in China are putting pressure on oil prices. "The drivers for oil prices to go higher aren't really there," she said. Brent crude, which is used to price oil used by many U.S. refiners to make gasoline, rose 28 cents to $100.19 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 | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |