Oil prices plunged to US$115 a barrel on Friday, driven lower by a huge jump in the US dollar, signs of moderating demand around the world and the burgeoning belief that commodities may have peaked.
Shrugging off concerns about a sabotaged oil pipeline in Turkey, investors pulled their money out of commodities and put it back into stocks — giving crude oil a weekly loss of nearly US$10 a barrel, and driving the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 300 points.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery slumped US$4.82 to settle at US$115.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange — its lowest settlement since May 1, when it settled at US$112.52. During Friday’s trading, crude dipped as low as US$114.90. Prices for gasoline, heating oil and natural gas also dropped.
In London, Brent crude for September delivery fell US$4.53 to finish at US$113.33 a barrel.
Many analysts have pointed to the US$117-a-barrel mark for crude oil as technically significant — a move below this level suggests, they say, that oil’s recent slide is more than a brief pullback.
Crude is now down US$32 from its high of US$147.27 on July 11.
“You have to remember that this market has baffled anyone who’s used fundamentals or charts. But if you’re a chartist, today is the death knell for the possibility of new highs in the marketplace,” said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, New Jersey.
Lehman Brothers chief energy economist Edward Morse issued a research note on Friday saying that, barring a physical disruption to supplies, “we think oil prices have peaked.”
As the US dollar launched a massive rebound against the euro and yen after the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England both left their benchmark interest rates unchanged, energy traders found reason to sell — especially since the ECB indicated that there probably wouldn’t be any more rate hikes to come.
The weak dollar had been boosting oil prices earlier this year, because dollar-denominated commodities are often used as hedges against inflation and a falling US currency.
Furthermore, the central banks’ actions bolstered the growing belief in the energy markets that economies around the world are slowing alongside the US, dampening global demand for crude oil products.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Xinyi A13 Department Store last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined at
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)