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Oil prices higher in Asian trade
November 9, 2009
Oil was higher in Asian trade Monday after falling at the end of last week in reaction to a surge in US unemployment figures, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, was up 98 cents to $78.41 (R588) a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery gained 95 cents to $76.82.
Both contracts closed lower Friday after official data by the Labor Department showed the US unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October as 190 000 jobs were shed, stoking fears for energy demand.
"I think it's a bit of a surprise.... Most of the traders were
expecting markets to fall to the 75, 76-dollar level," said
Jonathan Kornafel, Asian director of Hudson Capital Energy trading house.
He added that the price increase was due to "panic buying" by traders in a market lacking liquidity after the unemployment data.
The Labor Department report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, showed a rise in the jobless rate, up from 9.8 percent in September, to the highest since 1983.
But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in more than one year.
The United States is the world's biggest energy user and is seen as crucial driver of oil demand, which has been depressed by the global slump. - Sapa-AFP
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|  | | | Inside Business
Draft code requires institutions to disclose voting
In what could be the most significant corporate governance development in over a decade, a draft copy of the institutional shareholder code for responsible investing was released for discussion yesterday. The code, which requires public disclosure of voting records and policies, is set to have a significant impact on the way in which the country's R1.5 trillion investment fund industry is managed.[Full Story...]
| | | | Features
SA needs to adapt to keep high standard of accounting
South Africa has long been reputed to produce some of the world's best auditors. This was given credence when the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Survey for 2009 to 2010 ranks us second out of 133 countries for our auditing and reporting standards. We are in the top 10 for eight other measures of financial market sophistication, and for a country that is only the world's 24th largest economy measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), this is good going.[Full Story...]
| | | | Business Watch
Local strikes are giving global car makers the jitters
THE South African economy and motor manufacturing industry workers could pay dearly for the persistent disruption to new vehicle production in the country. The strikes in the new tyre and automotive component manufacturing sectors follow the strike last month by motor manufacturing workers, which resulted in some manufacturers losing export revenue.[Full Story...]
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