Spurt Of Crude Dashes Oil
Resolve by the largest producer in OPEC to lower world
oil prices by pumping up production took some of the heat out of energy markets
Wednesday and sent crude oil prices for August delivery down over 5%.
New York energy markets had their first opportunity to
respond to comments Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali Naimi made Monday when
markets ere closed that, "if the price does not decrease, Saudi Arabia, in
consultation with other producers, will increase production by 500,000 barrels
per day within the next few days." The largest producer within the Organization of
Petroleum Producing Nations (OPEC) said it would crank up oil production if a
basket of oil it tracks does not fall below $25 a barrel. The basket of seven
grades of OPEC oil tracked closed at $29.66 a barrel.
Energy prices gapped
sharply lower following the statement made late Monday. Although there is little
excess production capacity within OPEC, other leading producers within the group
also indicated a willingness to support the move. Crude oil
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session to end down 1.80 at 30.70. Heating oil
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The drop in crude oil carried over into natural gas
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descent as technical (stop) levels were hit. August nat gas closed .367 lower at
4.109.
Easing the threat of inflation, the drop in oil prices
continued to underpin Treasury futures. September T-bonds
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1/32 higher at 97 23/32 and
September 10-year notes
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year, up 3/32 at 98 30/32.
A downgrade of the semiconductor sector by a Salomon Smith Barney analyst
pressured tech and worked to take down the broad equities market. The analyst said lower shipments, declining chip prices
and rising inventories would undercut the bottom lines of leading name
stocks Texas Instruments
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Storage
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5/8.
NASDAQ 100 futures
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closed 27.20 lower at 1463.30 and
Dow futures
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stock index futures could decline–especially when taken together–came from the
Market
Bias Indicators Page, which registered four down signals.
Continuing to make good on a Turtle Soup Plus One Sell reversal signal triggered
on last Wednesday, June 28, orange
juice
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Sugar was closed Monday, but came back from Friday’s big
down, outside day that had initially spiked to a new high. October sugar
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slightly positive sign in light of the negative tone leftover from Friday’s
action.