Crude falls for a third session

8 September 2010

Written by Kim Bardsley

Crude oil prices were falling for a third consecutive session on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (September 8th), pulled lower as equities tanked in Asia.

At 03:05 Central Standard Time, the October-delivery crude futures contract was trading at $73.79, down 30 cents on yesterday's settle price, as a bearish sentiment prevailed in currency, stock and commodities markets.

The yen was trading at a 15-year high against the dollar as traders flocked to low-risk currencies, while Japan's Nikkei index registered losses in excess of two per cent.

Speaking to Reuters, Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp, said: "As soon as there is some fear of risk of a double-dip, people pull out of commodities and equities."

He added that this trend has dominated commodities trading for the past six months, during which time crude has traded between $70 and $80 a barrel, while heating oil has fluctuated between $1.95 and $2.05 a gallon.

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