Singapore News

SINGAPORE: Oil was lower in Asian trade Thursday after a strong overnight rally on the back of positive United States data and a weak dollar, analysts said. New Yorks main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, fell 50 cents to $77.76 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for January delivery dropped 47 cents to $77.97. Prices surged overnight as fresh US data showed jobless claims fell in the week ending November 21 to an adjusted 466,000, the lowest since September 2008. A separate report showed consumer spending rose more than expected in October, and a third said sales of new homes rose at their strongest pace since September 2008. "The overwhelming (market) sentiment was based on the economic news," said Andy Lipow, analyst at Lipow Oil Associates. Crude prices probably eased off in morning Asian trade as investors switched focus to digest the weekly oil data from the US Department of Energy (DoE), analysts said. "The inventory numbers were uninspiring so there was not anything to drive the market higher," said Jason Feer, Singapore-based regional vice president for energy analysts Argus Media. The DoE said Wednesday in its weekly report that crude stocks rose by one million barrels in the week ended November 20 and gasoline reserves were up by the same amount. The weekly DoE report is closely watched by the market because the US is the worlds biggest energy consumer. Meanwhile, Opec member Algeria said the oil cartel was likely to maintain its production levels when the organization meets next month in Angola. "We are going to keep the same output level until we have a clearer vision of the world economic situation," Algeria energy minister Chakib Khelil said in a report carried by a news agency. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries supplies 40 percent of the worlds crude.

Business News

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that a lending scheme to aid countries hit hard by the financial crisis had grown to 600 billion dollars. The Washington-based Fund said that an additional 13 potential countries had agreed to join 26 nations in committing money to the so-called New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), which was originally targeted at 500 billion dollars. They also vowed to bring more flexibility to the NAB, a standing set of credit arrangements under which participants commit supplementary resources for IMF lending when needed. The IMF executive board is expected to make a formal decision on the expanded NAB in the coming weeks. To ensure that the IMF continues to have sufficient resources to meet demand, the Group of 20 emerging and developed economies committed in September to triple its available resources, up from a pre-crisis level of about 250 billion dollars. G20 leaders agreed in April that immediate financing of 250 billion dollars from members would subsequently be folded into an expanded and more flexible NAB, increased by up to 500 billion dollars. Among the countries that contributed to the scheme are developed nations such as the United States, Britain, France, Japan and Italy and developing states like China, Brazil and India.