Crude oil below $75 a barrel

27 January 2010

Written by John King

Crude oil prices fell below $75 (£46.50) a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday (January 26th) and slipped further in early trading this morning.

During today's Asian trading session, investment in commodities such as crude and heating oil was stifled by the strength of the dollar, which made the dollar-priced assets less attractive to foreign buyers.

Meanwhile, persistent concerns about China's growth policy and energy demand in the US also weighed on prices.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Toby Hassall, a commodity analyst at CWA Global Markets in Sydney, said there is little support for crude on a short-term basis.

"We are still waiting for the US and Europe to show some material improvement in their economies," he said.

Yesterday, The UK joined the list of countries which have exited recession, although analysts were broadly disappointed by the slim margin by which it did so. The Office for National Statistics posted gross domestic product growth of 0.1 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2009.

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