Crude oil 6-10th Oct weekly report

Crude oil futures sold off sharply on Friday, as the U.S. dollar surged after upbeat U.S. employment data and amid ongoing concerns over ample global supplies and weak demand. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in November sank $1.27, or 1.4%, on Friday to end the week at $89.74 a barrel by close of trade. Nymex oil prices hit a low of $88.18 on Thursday, a level not seen since April 2013. For the week, New York-traded oil futures lost $3.61, or 3.86%, the third weekly decline over the past four weeks. Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for November delivery slumped $1.11, or 1.19%, on Friday to settle at $92.31 a barrel by close of trade. Earlier in the day, London-traded Brent prices fell to $91.55, the lowest since June 2012. For the week, the November Brent contract dropped $4.50, or 4.64%, the worst weekly loss since April 2013. Meanwhile the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $2.57 a barrel by close of trade on Friday, compared to $3.46 in the preceding week. In a report, the Department of Labor said that the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, well ahead of forecast for jobs growth of 215,000. The unemployment rate ticked down from 6.0% to 5.9%, the lowest level since July 2008. The upbeat data added to the view that the strengthening economic recovery may prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner and faster than markets are expecting. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 1.23% on Friday to close at 86.79, a level last seen in June 2010, capping its twelfth consecutive weekly gain. Oil is priced in dollars and becomes more expensive for investors who use other currencies to fund their purchases of the commodity when the dollar strengthens. Meanwhile, fears of a global supply glut pushed prices down as well. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia cut the prices of the oil it ships to Asia to remain competitive and retain its market share, which added to fears that supply far outstrips demand due in large part to slumping European and Asian economies. In the coming week, investors will be looking ahead to Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting minutes for further indications on the future possible direction of U.S. monetary policy. Data from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission released Friday showed that hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish bets in New York-traded oil futures in the week ending September 30. Net longs totaled 201,863 contracts as of last week, up 3.9% from net longs of 193,965 in the preceding week.