Oil prices fall as consumer confidence drops

• Source: xinhua
• [08:17 July 29 2009]
• Comments

Oil paused its two-week rally and fell nearly 2 percent on Tuesday as US consumer confidence dropped for the second consecutive month.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.15, or 1.7 percent, to settle at 67.23 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil prices were weighed after the Conference Board reported Tuesday that US consumer confidence fell for a second straight month. The index dropped to 46.6 in July from 49.3 in June, below analyst expectations of 49.0, illustrating sentiment remained hampered by a difficult job market. Adding to oil's loss was the fact that investors took profits from previous gains and the dollar rebounded against a basket of major currencies.

The market now was awaiting the inventories data due to be released on Wednesday, which was expected to be a buildup in crude, also pushing oil prices lower.

London Brent for September delivery dropped 1.06 dollars to 69.75 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.