Crude oil fell the most in almost a month on concern the global economic recovery may falter, reducing demand for fuel.
US industrial production fell for a sixth month as output at factories, mines and utilities decreased 0.5 percent, according to a report on Friday from the US Federal Reserve in Washington. Stocks had their worst week in more than two months.
“It’s still about the economy,” said Phil Flynn, senior trader at Alaron Trading Corp in Chicago. “If the bulls are going to reignite their bullish passion, I think we’re going to have to see the stock market carry the load.”
Crude oil for June delivery fell US$2.28, or 3.9 percent, to settle at US$56.34 a barrel at 2:50pm on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil reached US$60.08 on Tuesday, the highest intraday price since Nov. 11. Crude dropped US$2.29 over the past five days, the biggest weekly decline in three months.
Confidence among US consumers increased this month to its highest level since the collapse of credit markets late last year threw the economy deeper into recession.
The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 67.9 this month from 65.1 last month. The index reached a three-decade low of 55.3 in November.
Brent crude for July settlement fell US$2.61, or 4.5 percent, to US$55.98 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. The June Brent contract expired on Friday at US$56.69 and the June NYMEX crude contract will cease trading on Tuesday.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the