Crude below $81, set for fourth monthly loss

31 Oct, 2014

TOKYO: US crude futures edged below $81 a barrel on Friday, extending declines as the dollar rallied on bets of a sooner-than-expected US rate hike, while traders saw little chance of OPEC cutting output at its November meeting.

FUNDAMENTALS

NYMEX crude for December delivery was down 15 cents at $80.97 a barrel by 0002 GMT, after settling down $1.08 on Thursday.

US crude is on course to post a fourth straight monthly decline of around 11 percent.

London Brent crude for December delivery was down 21 cents at $86.03 a barrel, after settling down 88 cents.

A 3.5 percent annual rise in third-quarter US gross domestic product reported on Thursday also reinforced investor confidence over the economy, lending to a more hawkish interest rate outlook.

A 25 percent slide in oil prices since June had raised talk that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may need to curb output, but little momentum has built up around a production cut, the first since the 2008 financial crisis.

In a deal that could curb heating oil consumption in winter, Ukraine, Russia and the European Union signed a deal on Thursday that will see Moscow resume vital supplies of gas to its ex-Soviet neighbour over the winter in return for payments funded in part by Kiev's Western creditors.

MARKETS NEWS

US stocks rose on Thursday, boosted by a strong reading on quarterly economic growth and by another round of upbeat earnings reports.

The dollar held at four-week highs against a basket of major currencies early on Friday, getting another boost from encouraging growth data.

Copyright Reuters, 2014

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