Brent oil trading near $76, prices lower on grim US data

28 July 2010 28 July 2010

BonTrade

Brent oil prices are trading back near the $76 mark on Wednesday as prices took a knock lower yesterday amid the latest grim reports on US consumer confidence and manufacturing.

In London, Brent crude oil futures for September 2010 delivery was at $75.98, 07.00 GMT on the ICE Futures Exchange.

The US Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index is at 50.4 in July, down from 54.3 in June, on concerns that the job market in the US is not improving.

US Treasuries trimmed losses and stocks pared gains after the dim consumer confidence reading as investors bought safer government assets.

“Concerns about business conditions and the labor market are casting a dark cloud over consumers that is not likely to lift until the job market improves,” said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

“For me, a double dip is another recession before we’ve healed from this recession … The probability of that kind of double-dip is more than 50%,” said Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University.

As a result of the latest data, Brent oil prices tumbeld in US trading, loosing around $1.50 and sending prices back to $75.96 by the session close.