Oil prices retreated from month high after Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi said that efforts to end the fighting between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, show up for several hours.

Futures fell as much as 1.3% as Mursi said that the situation in the Middle East, which he described as "Israeli aggression" ends today. His comments came after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the region to accede to the question regarding the truce in the region.

Note that the conflict in Gaza threatens further instability in the Middle East and North Africa after the wave of uprisings in the past year, including in Libya, which is almost completely cut oil exports from North Africa.

The Israeli official, who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that if the talks have failed, Israel launched the invasion. Israeli officials say that any ceasefire must include long-term agreement with Hamas to stop firing rockets that can hit 4.5 million people, or half the population.

Prices also fell on speculation that tomorrow's report from the U.S. Department of Energy show that oil stocks rose to four-month high last week.

January futures price of U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to 87.40 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

January futures price of North Sea petroleum mix of mark Brent fell by 1.25 dollars to 110.28 dollars a barrel on the London Stock Exchange ICE Futures Europe.

The price of gold has stabilized today, and traded in the range of $ 1730 - $ 1735 per ounce, after yesterday's most significant one-day increase in the past two weeks. Note that this trend was due to the hope that the United States will be able to reach agreement as to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts in early 2013, which could trigger a new recession. Also, the price of gold affect napryadennaya situation in the Middle East.

Note that gold is acting as a risky asset, as the price starts to rise, after concerns about "financial cliff" decreases.

At the same time, reducing the risk to the debt crisis in Greece also boosted gold prices. Recall that yesterday Athens adopted a series of laws to meet budgetary targets and to ensure privatization proceeds, which will be used to repay debt in an effort to reassure foreign creditors at the same meeting on the eve of the finance ministers of the euro area.

Meanwhile, the conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip support the price of gold by the fear that the risk of violence may spread in the region, raising concerns about inflation over the potential impact on oil prices.

Analysts point out that there is a potential link between the prices of oil and gold, if the conflict in the Middle East even more aggravated.

Technical analysis showed that spot gold prices can fluctuate below resistance at $ 1,738 an ounce in one trading session before break this level and rise up to $ 1746 - $ 1749.

December futures price of gold on the COMEX is now 1730.10 an ounce.

Change % Change Last

Oil $89.16 -0.12 -0.13%

Gold $1,731.10 -3.30 -0.19%