Oil prices face uncertain trading week, eyes on US, Europe

1 August 2010 1 August 2010

BonTrade

Oil prices face an uncertain trading week ahead as US production figures failed to excite last Friday, while in Europe several banks are due to report earnings and problems with Greece could resurface into European stock markets.

The Week’s Closing Oil Prices

Brent crude oil futures closed the week’s trading at $78.24 on the ICE Futures Exchange, while WTI oil prices closed at $78.94 on the NYMEX.

Oil prices closed higher amid last week’s data released in the US depicted an uncertain outlook. On a monthly basis, WTI crude and Brent crude oil prices rose more than four percent, the biggest increase since March 2010.

Quiet Trading for the Holiday Season

The week ahead marks the start of August, a period that can be one of reduced investing and low tolerance for anything other than major market moving events. In fact, some big investors have already effectively closed up for the 2010 summer holidays.

So while it may be that a lot of oil traders are taking a break, crude oil prices can easily become volatile if there is something significant enough to move them in a quiet period.

Look to Europe for Oil Price Direction?

Quite a few European banks are due to report earnings this week which could affect stock markets and in turn, oil prices.

Since the european bank stress test results were released, Europe’s financial sector stocks have risen around 5 percent and are up 22 percent since hitting a 2010 low on June 8th. Much of the recent European stock market gains are because investors thought the sector was oversold after the Greek debt crisis, but will markets move lower this week?

One in Thousands of Petrol Stations Closed in Greece This Week

All is not well in Greece this week as Greek truckers are to discuss whether to continue a six day strike that caused massive fuel shortages all over the country. The latest Greek fuel shortages come at the height of the country’s tourism season as officials raced to restock petrol supplies to the nation.

Further problems in Greece could spill back over into European markets at some point as concerns mount about the ability of the Greek economy to keep itself afloat.