MbS made the remarks at an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council, which he gave on behalf of his father, King Salman
Benchmark crude for June delivery was down 53 cents to $95.86 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contact lost 23 cents to finish at $96.39 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.
Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, said the strong dollar has been impacting “commodities prices generally.” Since oil is traded in dollars, a stronger dollar makes crude and other commodities less appealing to investors with other currencies.
Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne said traders were also influenced by remarks in a speech Thursday by Charles Plosser, president of the Fed’s Philadelphia regional bank.
Plosser suggested the Fed should “seriously look at tapering off asset purchases,” Shamu said in a commentary, because the U.S. employment picture was improving. That could spark a rally in the dollar. The Fed is currently buying $85 billion of government bonds a month to hold down long-term interest rates and encourage borrowing and spending
The Labor Department on Thursday reported the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000. Layoffs have receded to pre-recession levels.
Brent crude, which is a benchmark for many international oil varieties, fell 53 cents to $103.94 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
MbS made the remarks at an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council, which he gave on behalf of his father, King Salman
His visit to Cairo aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict
The group accused Israel, which has so far refused to comment, as US denies involvement
Hundreds of pagers belonging to the armed group exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others
They view it as a pivotal move toward fostering inclusivity and diversity in corporate structures
Israel has not yet commented on the explosions
The meeting saw engaging discussions on Sinomach’s strategic initiatives and ongoing projects in the region