
Oil recoups some of last week's sharp losses
Oil prices inched higher today to recoup some of the losses it suffered last week, when crude prices declined 4% to hit its two month lows on disappointing employment data that came out in the US and concerns over the debt situation in some eurozone countries.
The debt crisis in Greece, Portugal and Spain spurred concerns over crude demand, while also weakening the euro against the US Dollar, which made commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies to further push down the demand. The American currency slightly weekened today, helping crude to small gains.
More bearish data came out at the end of last week, when weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the US, which was followed by a non-farm payrolls update from the US Labor Department, which showed a decline of 20,000 for the month of December, while an increase was expected.
In other news, gasoline prices declined to US$2.67 a gallon in the US, according to California based analyst Trilby Lundberg after losing 5.8 cents last week.
March Brent Crude slipped below $70, arriving at US$69.69/barrel, while US light, sweet crude dropped to US$71.20/barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.


















