The price of oil rose moderately today , which was due to the tense situation in Ukraine before the presidential elections scheduled for May 25.
As it became known , the Ukrainian army on Thursday lost more than a dozen soldiers in battle with pro-Russian separatists.
We also add that the oil market continues today technical correction waiting for news that could give the market movement . Little influenced by the U.S. data , which showed that sales of newly built homes rose in April , becoming the latest sign of the revival of the housing market after the winter stagnation. New home sales rose 6.4% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 . Value for March was revised to increase to 407,000 . Economists forecast that monthly sales will grow by 426,000 in April.
However, today is characterized by low trading activity of market participants , which is partly due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar on the FOREX. Low activity on the oil futures market today is also due to the upcoming three-day weekend in the U.S. and the lack of trading on the NYMEX April 26 in connection with a federal holiday on Memorial Day.
Dynamics is also dictated by the situation in Libya . Note that the protesters in Libya occupied the head office of the company, managing the oil port of Brega - the only one of the ports on the east of the country , which continued to work during the nine-month opposition factions vying for power . On Wednesday, the country's oil production was about 230,000 barrels , compared with 1.4 million barrels per day last year.
Support for WTI crude oil continues to have a decrease in energy reserves in the United States . U.S. crude inventories declined for the last week to 391.3 million barrels - the lowest level in six months.
The cost of the July futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to $ 104.36 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
July futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose 6 cents to $ 110.42 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.
Gold prices retreated from session lows , but still remain below the opening level . Initially, the pressure exerted on the precious metal standby output data on the U.S. housing market , but the publication itself helped restore prices . As it became known , sales of newly built homes rose in April , becoming the latest sign of the revival of the housing market after the winter stagnation. New home sales rose 6.4% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 , said Friday the Ministry of Commerce . Value for March was revised to increase to 407,000 . Economists forecast that monthly sales will grow by 426,000 in April. Compared with a year earlier , sales of new homes fell 4.2% . The average home price remained elevated at $ 275,800 . It is slightly smaller than in March , when it reached the highest level in history.
Negative price dynamics is also called a technical correction and weakening interest in buying . On the eve of the official price of gold on COMEX rose by $ 6.9 and reached a maximum value for the three sessions , providing a small premium for sales.
However, weak investment demand for gold bullion today continues to put pressure on futures prices on COMEX. The assets of the world's largest holder of gold investment institutions ETFs SPDR Gold Trust as of 20 May 2014. remain at the level of 780.19 tonnes - the lowest level since December 2008.
Market participants are also watching the events in Ukraine, where this Sunday should be a presidential election . U.S. and European officials have warned over the weekend that against Russia will be additional sanctions if Moscow disrupt the forthcoming elections in Ukraine.
If you evaluate a technical point of view , it is likely that in the coming days will be a range of quotations of gold capped at $ 1280.0 support and resistance level $ 1305.0 .
The cost of the June gold futures on the COMEX today dropped to $ 1293.80 .
Gold $1,294.90 +6.90 +0.54%
ICE Brent Crude Oil $110.39 -0.16 -0.14%
NYMEX Crude Oil $103.69 -0.30 -0.29%