WTI oil price trades down to $78 as US dollar makes gains

WTI oil prices are trading under $78 a barrel in Asia on Thursday as the US dollar gains strength as a safe haven for investors fleeing stock markets, again…

US Light crude oil futures for September 2010 delivery was trading at $77.73 a barrel, 08.15 GMT on the NYMEX.

The US dollar yesterday saw its biggest daily gain in nearly two years against major currencies as a gloomy US economic growth outlook and weak Chinese data suggested global growth was faltering.

“Global economic concerns are pulling down crude oil prices and quite a bit of bad news is coming out from Europe, Asia and the US. The Chinese economy is starting to show signs of weakness and the US Federal Bank announced that the pace of the economic recovery is becoming more gradual.” said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants, Singapore.

“You’ve got a whole potpourri of negative news flow going on that’s got people to say, ‘OK, we’ll sell the whole commodity complex’ and oil is a big part of that. Oil prices are tracking market sentiment.” said commodities analyst Martin King of FirstEnergy Capital.