Prices for WTI crude oil rose again today, recording with the fifth session gain in a row and the longest series in April, as the strengthening of the unrest in Egypt strengthened fears that shipments from the Middle East may be reduced. We also add that the price of Brent crude oil rose to a four-month high today.

Futures rose 1%, after the government of Egypt has announced a state of emergency. The Egyptian authorities have reported that the number of those killed in the civil confrontation between Islamists and security forces has risen to 525 people. The true number of victims is much higher, since there are a lot of unregistered medical victims. Islamists, supporters of President Mohammed Mursi, who overthrew the last month, claiming that killed more than 2,000 people. The U.S. and other countries condemned the Egyptian security forces for actions that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a "very serious massacre." It should be noted that the situation in Egypt could continue to have an impact on oil prices, raising it to a price that is primarily associated with the probability of blocking the Suez Canal, which is used by tankers to transport oil to Europe and North America from the Arabian Peninsula.

According to the International Energy Agency, the Middle East accounted for about 35 percent of global oil production in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, we add that the course of trade is also affected by the U.S. data. As it became known, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level since the recession began, a sign of strengthening labor market.

The number of applications for unemployment benefits fell by 15,000 adjusted for seasonal variation was 320,000. This is the lowest level since October 2007. Economists had expected initial claims to 334,000.

The moving average of initial claims in four weeks, smoothing the volatility of weekly data, fell by 4,000 to 332,000, with at least November 2007.

Note that the Fed closely watching the situation in the labor market, since it affects, whether the Fed will begin to curtail bond purchase program by 85 billion dollars a month, when the unemployment rate reached 7.0%.

The cost of the September futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to 107.59 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

September futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose to $ 111.25 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold prices fell sharply today, losing about 1.1%, which was due to the rise in the dollar and the increase in yield of U.S. government bond yields to two-year high. Note that this dynamic in the first place was due to the release of data on the U.S., which increased the likelihood of reducing the Fed's economic stimulus program.

The data from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in July after a 0.5 percent increase in June. The slight increase in the price corresponds to the economists. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, also rose by 0.2 percent. U.S. consumer prices in July rose for the third month in a row, bringing inflation rose to historically low levels.

Meanwhile, another report from the Labor Department showed that for the week ended August 10, the initial applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell more than expected. At what number of applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in more than five years.

According to the report, the primary applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. for the week August 4-10 decreased by 15 thousand to 320 thousand, the consensus forecast of 334 thousand also add that the primary applications for unemployment benefits for the week of July 28 - August 3 revised to 335 thousand from 333 thousand Meanwhile, secondary applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. for the week July 28 - August 3, decreased by 54 thousand to 2.969 million

The latest figures were seen by analysts as those that may force Fed officials to reduce the monthly volume of asset-purchase program in September.

We also add that to the price of gold is also affected by quarterly reports U.S. hedge funds, which have shown that many of the participants have reduced, and in some cases completely sold their shares to a sharp fall in prices this year. Note that the outflow of capital from the eight largest gold exchange-traded fund totaled nearly 20 million ounces, or $ 27 billion, this year.

The cost of the October gold futures on COMEX today dropped to $ 1326.10 per ounce.

Change % Change Last

GOLD 1,334.00 12.80 0.97%

OIL (WTI) 106.91  0.08 0.07%