Oil prices fell today, dropping at the same time below $ 103 a barrel as concerns about demand prospects outweighed expectations for the meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, which may contribute to further stimulate the world economy. Note that in the month of April, oil prices fell more than 6 percent, heading for its biggest monthly drop since May last year.

Underlining the difficulties facing the European economy, data released today showed that the unemployment rate in the euro area rose in March to a level of 12.1 percent, while the volume of retail sales in Germany fell, registering with the second monthly drop in a row. In addition, the added negative data from Spain, which revealed that by the end of the first quarter the economy contracted, noting the seventh consecutive quarterly decline.

At the same time, today it was announced that Japan's crude oil imports from Iran rose in March by 4.5 percent, compared with the same month a year earlier, as the third-largest oil importer won his third rejection of U.S. sanctions on Tehran to reduce the supply of the country. Economists note that the increase in imports of Iranian oil, Japan indicates a decrease in the demand for oil from other regions.

The cost of the June futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to 93.27 dollars per barrel, the lowest intraday level since Dec. 19.

June futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture fell $ 1.41 to $ 102.35 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold prices fell today as many investors prefer to stay on the sidelines ahead of a meeting of central banks in Europe and the United States. Note also that in view of the fact that China's public holiday, the demand in the physical market in China has declined.

Investors believe that the ECB will lower its interest rate, and the Committee on Open Fed will expand monetary stimulus measures, but traders say that the result of these actions is uncertain. As for the Fed, it is likely that the results of the two-day meeting will decide to continue the monthly purchases of longer-dated Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed bonds.

Note also that the drop in the value of gold contributed to the weak U.S. data, which showed that the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) Chicago adjusted down by the end of April to the level of 49.0, up from 52.4 in March.

In addition, other data showed that the gold reserves in the SPDR Gold Trust, which is the largest gold exchange-traded fund in the world, fell on Monday by 0.22% to 1,080.64 tons, while reaching the lowest level since September 2009.

The cost of the June gold futures on COMEX today dropped to 1466.60 dollars an ounce.

Change % Change Last

GOLD 1,470.30 16.70 1.15%

OIL (WTI) 94.23 1.23 1.32%