Business News
Oil steadies at $76, Dubai concerns dominate
Fuelling a car at a Mobil gas station. Crude oil prices had gained as much as 80 cents to $76.80 a barrel on Monday. Photo/REUTERS
Posted Monday, November 30 2009 at 12:22
Implied volality on U.S. crude futures, a measure of risk perception based on options, rose by 15 percent on Friday, the steepest jump since October 2008.
"Oil prices could be at the mercy of the renewed financial pessimism till further clarity on the Dubai situation emerges," Barclays Capital said in a research note on Friday.
"While short forays below the recent trading range cannot be ruled out as a result of the renewed pessimism, we do not see any underlying shift in the oil market fundamentals and thus expect a return to normalcy once initial fears abate," it said, adding that it saw $70 as the minimum support level.
Separately, Iran announced plans on Sunday to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants in a major expansion of its atomic programme, just two days after the U.N. nuclear watchdog rebuked it for carrying out such work in secret.
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