Oil near $35 amid grim market data
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The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 20, 2009 00:00
SINGAPORE - Oil prices rose slightly to above $35 a barrel yesterday in Asia despite grim U.S. news that pointed to a deep recession and weaker crude demand.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 54 cents to $35.18 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Wednesday fell 31 cents to settle at $34.62.The March contract expires on Friday, and traders switched their focus to the April contract, which rose 62 cents to $38.03.The Federal Reserve on Wednesday confirmed what many investors already suspected - that the U.S. economy has significantly deteriorated in the last few months.
Fed forecasts
The Fed said it expects the economy will contract between 0.5 and 1.3 percent this year. Its previous forecast from November had a 0.2 percent contraction as the worst-case scenario.The Fed also said the unemployment rate will likely rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 percent this year.
The current global slump began in 2007 with a crisis in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage sector, and the housing market continues to buckle under the weight of surging foreclosures.
A report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday said construction of new homes and apartments plunged 16.8 percent in January from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units.
Fed forecasts
The Fed said it expects the economy will contract between 0.5 and 1.3 percent this year. Its previous forecast from November had a 0.2 percent contraction as the worst-case scenario.The Fed also said the unemployment rate will likely rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 percent this year.
The current global slump began in 2007 with a crisis in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage sector, and the housing market continues to buckle under the weight of surging foreclosures.
A report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday said construction of new homes and apartments plunged 16.8 percent in January from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units.