Crude Rises 3.4% on Middle Eastern Tensions |
| Wall Street Journal - Oct 9, 2012 |
Crude-oil prices rose Tuesday afternoon as traders overlooked forecasts of economic weakness and focused on burgeoning tensions in the Middle East.
Light sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped $3.06, or 3.4%, to $92.39 a barrel. Brent oil futures were $2.49, or 2.2%, higher at $114.31 a barrel.
Anxiety about the Middle East centered on several possible scenarios, fueling talk that oil prices could soar above $100 a barrel if tensions continue to worsen.
"The whole [Middle Eastern] region is a mess right now," said Phil Flynn, an analyst with the Price Futures Group in Chicago. "There's a lot of fear in the market place."
Rising tension between Syria and Turkey has generated speculation that 400,000 barrels a day of oil shipped to Turkey from Iraq's northern Kurdistan region could be at risk in a border skirmish. Also on the market's mind: the possibility that Iran could support Syria against Turkey in such a dispute, market participants said.
Pressure on Iran to back off its nuclear program is also spooking markets. A call by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu to set up early elections in Israeli has been seen as "a referendum on war" between Israel and Iran, Mr. Flynn said.
"Iranian rumors of growing tensions are spooking this market," said Carl Larry, head of trading adviser Oil Outlooks and Opinions.
Read Full Article from Wall Street Journal
- Posted: 2012-10-09 16:22:10
| More Stock Investor Place Top Stories |
 |
|
|
|
| Stock Investor Place Top Stories Archive |
|
|
|
