Crude oil prices cruised to their highest level of 2010 Wednesday (March 10) morning, before quickly reversing, as speculators consider new data on the level of crude supplies released by the Energy Information Administration.

Oil is among the winners following the surprisingly strong unemployment report released by the government on Friday (March 5). Jobless claims and unemployment numbers both came in lower than expected for February according to the Labor Department.
US employers slashed just 36,000 jobs during the month of February compared to a forecast of 50,000. Unemployment held steady at 9.7 per cent compared to analysts predictions of a small increase to 9.8 per cent.
Friday’s data supports recent analyst comments that the economy finally is in recovery with a confirmation of …

A positive report on jobs Wednesday (March 3) showed a slight increase in the number of employed workers in the US. This was a strong enough sign to prompt some analysts to suggest unemployment and a bad jobs market could be bottoming out.
The solid economic news was enough to drive oil prices higher despite the latest Energy Information Administration report that shows relatively high levels of crude stockpiles in the US. With more employed people, the market expectation is that demand by businesses and consumers for oil-based products …

The news of a prospective Greek bail-out plan put together by France and Germany may well go some way to soothe investor concerns about a sovereign default in Europe and has gone some way to stabilising the Euro in the short term, especially against sterling which has undergone a torrid last 7 days.

The dollar has been firming up in the last several weeks, thanks in large part to growing expectations of a tighter monetary policy leading to higher interest rates. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tried to reassure Americans and quash some of those assumptions with his comments to Congress about the economy Wednesday (February 24).

A slow day on currency markets yesterday and overnight has seen the recent volatility of the past few days take a bit of a back seat as the US dollar slips back from its recent highs on firmer commodity prices and some profit-taking ahead of this week’s key note speech by Federal Reserve President Bernanke to Congress on Wednesday.