LONDON, 13 July 2005 — World oil prices soared yesterday, rocketing by more than $2 in New York, on concerns that Tropical storm Emily could end up a hurricane and damage oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, jumped $2.23 to $61.15 per barrel in early deals. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in August gained $1.98 to $59.42 per barrel.
“The market has become preoccupied with Tropical Storm Emily,” said an analyst for a European bank who wished to remain anonymous.
The onset of Emily comes after US oil platforms and refineries had largely escaped Hurricane Dennis.
The Department of Energy was to release the closely-watched weekly snapshot of US crude inventories data today.
Meanwhile, the dollar wobbled against the euro yesterday as investors booked profits while waiting for closely-watched US trade data to be released today.
The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.2199 dollars against 1.2072 late Monday in New York. The dollar was meanwhile trading at 110.91 yen after 111.79 on Monday.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2199 dollars against 1.2072 late on Monday in New York, 135.24 yen (134.99), 0.6877 pounds (0.6865) and 1.5562 Swiss francs (1.5539).
The dollar stood at 110.91 yen (111.79) and 1.2760 Swiss francs (1.2867).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold stood at $426.25 against $424.20 late on Monday.
European stock exchanges retreated yesterday, with the London FTSE 100 index shedding 0.48 percent to close at 5,217.2. In Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.18 percent to 4,313.78 while in Frankfurt the DAX gave up 0.22 percent to finish at 4,653.03.
The Swiss market index closed at 6,328.69 points, down 28.52 or 0.45 percent.
In New York, US stocks drifted lower in late-morning trade yesterday.
At 1515 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 18.64 points (0.18 percent) to 10,501.08, while the NASDAQ shed 2.01 points (0.09 percent) to 2,133.42. The broad-market Standard and Poor’s 500 index shed a fractional 0.58 point (0.05 percent) to 1,218.86.
Asian stocks closed mostly higher yesterday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index rose 17.35 points to 11,692.14.
In Seoul, the KOSPI index closed up 3.45 points at 1,043.88.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 10.29 points at 14,146.95.
In Sydney, the SP ASX 200 index ended the day down 2.0 points at 4,262.1.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 5.6 points to 2,235.59.
In Kuala Lumpur, the composite index gained 6.40 points to 915.72.
In Manila, the composite index rose 16.16 points to 1,868.94.
In Bombay, the 30-share Sensex fell 2.79 points to close at 7,303.95. The Sensex reached a record intra-day trading level of 7,352.46 on Monday.
