Oil prices close to $77 ahead of economic report

02/11/2009

Oil prices traded at close to $77 per barrel this Monday (November 2nd), as the market waited for data on the US economy.

Benchmark US crude oil for December delivery was trading at $76.89 per barrel by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a fall of 11 cents, reported the Associated Press.

The contract had settled at $77.00 on Friday, following a $2.87 fall in price per barrel.

In a report energy consultancy the Schork Group said: "Oil prices may not retract too sharply, but the balloon of irrational exuberance has been, at least temporarily, deflated."

Clues about the strength of the economy may be provided later this week through the US Labor Department's employment report for October.
Data released last week by the Commerce Department showed that the US economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter.