Oil prices hit new record at $140

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-27 04:45:02  

·Crude futures surged sharply and broke the 140 U.S. dollars level Thursday. ·Libya national oil company said the country may curb output. ·OPEC predicted prices could rise to between $150 and $170 a barrel this summer.

    NEW YORK, June 26 (Xinhua) --

Crude futures surged sharply and broke the 140 U.S. dollars level for the first time on Thursday as OPEC predicted oil prices to rise and Libya threatened to cut production.

    Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 5.09 dollars to settle at a record 139.64 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices continued to rise in the after hour electronic trading and hit 140.39 dollars a barrel, surpassing the previous intraday trading record of 139.89 dollars a barrel on June 16.

    OPEC President Chakib Khelil said Thursday he believes oil prices could rise to between 150 dollars a barrel and 170 dollars a barrel this summer. Khelil's forecast caused a jump in prices.

    Meanwhile, Libya national oil company said the country may curb output because the oil market is well supplied, according to news reports of France 24. A falling dollar also helped to push up the crude.

    In London, Brent crude for August delivery rose 5.5 dollars to settle at 139.83 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange after touching a record of 140.56 dollars a barrel.

Wall Street tumbles on bad economic news, record oil prices

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-27 05:03:24  

    NEW YORK, June 26 (Xinhua) --

Wall Street plunged Thursday with Dow Jones closing lowest in nearly two years as a series of bad economic news hit the market and oil prices set a new record at 140 U.S. dollars a barrel.

    Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled at a record of 139.64 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as OPEC predicted that oil prices may reach 170 dollars this summer.

    In the financials, Goldman analysts said Citigroup may report an 8.9 billion U.S. dollars second-quarter write down and reduced its dividend. Citigroup retreated to a 10-year low. Merrill Lynch, the U.S. third-largest securities firm, also lost ground, after Goldman predicted the company will post a loss in 2008, compared with previous estimate of profit.

    Goldman also downgraded GM to "sell" from "neutral." The largest automaker plunged the most in three years.

    In corporate news, Nike Inc.'s U.S. earnings and Oracle Corp.'s profit forecast also disappointed investors. Moreover, Research In Motion Ltd., producer of the Black Berry devices, issued a forecast that provides little consolation to investors.

    Investors seemed unmoved by the U.S. Commerce Department's upward revision of its first-quarter gross domestic product reading to 1 percent. And the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims remained flat last week.

    The Dow Jones plunged 358.41 to 11,453.42, the lowest finish since September 11, 2006. Broader indexes also fell sharply. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 38.82 to 1,283.15 and the Nasdaq slipped 79.89 to 2,321.37.     

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Dollar extends loss as U.S. stocks tumble

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-27 06:07:59

    NEW YORK, June 26 (Xinhua) --

The dollar fell against most major currencies on Thursday, extending losses of the previous session as Wall Street plunged.

    The dollar continued losing grounds after the U.S. Federal Reserve failed to give a strong signal that it would raise interest rates later this year in its statement released on Wednesday.

    The greenback was also hit by bad economic news and oil prices at new record high on Thursday. Analysts gave negative comments on General Motors and Citigroup, sent shares of the two large U.S. companies to their lowest level in years.

    Oil futures rose above 140 dollars a barrel after the OPEC president said crude prices could rise well above 150 dollars a barrel this year and Libya said it might cut oil production.

    The euro bought 1.5760 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.5667 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The British pound rose to 1.9877 dollars from 1.9727 dollars.

    The dollar fell to 1.0232 Swiss francs from 1.0362 Swiss francs, and fell to 106.66 Japanese yen from 107.93 Japanese yen. It rose to 1.0118 Canadian dollars from 1.0095 Canadian dollars.     

Editor: Mu Xuequan