New York oil prices in record territory

Crude oil prices were up in record territory, near $80 per barrel in New York in afternoon trade Wednesday, after US crude oil inventories dropped by over 7 million barrels last week and the decision by OPEC to raise production by half a million barrels per day from November 1 was seen as too little too late. Metals prices dropped, while corn prices were higher but wheat prices fell back.

Asia-Pacific equities markets were mixed Wednesday. Australia’s markets declined with the Sydney Ordinaries down 0.2 percent to 6,236 and the S&P/ASX200 falling 0.24 percent to 6,220.3. The Sensex was also 0.24 percent lower to 15,505.36 in India, while South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 1.83 percent to 1,813.52. In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 was down 0.5 percent to 15,797.60. The Topix index dropped 0.27 percent to 1,528.27 while the Mothers market was 1.19 percent lower to 648.46. Tokyo’s declines came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation.

Gainers included the Taiex index in Taiwan, which added 0.17 percent to 9,018.12. The Straits Times index gained 0.33 percent to 3,506.09 in Singapore, while the Shanghai Composite was 1.15 percent higher to 5,172.63 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.49 percent to 24,310.14.

European markets saw gains. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.22 percent to 1,510.28. Madrid’s IBEX was 0.11 percent higher to 13,980.4, while the Dax gained 0.2 percent to 7,472.99 and the CAC-40 was up 0.53 percent to 5,508.01. London’s markets were higher as well, with the FTSE adding 0.41 percent to 6,306.2 and the FTSE 250 gaining 0.07 percent to 11,219.7

Wall Street was higher in early afternoon trade even though the dollar remained weak and oil prices hovered in record high territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.03 percent higher to 13,311.97, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.26 percent to 2,604.31 and the S&P 500 was 0.12 percent higher to 1,473.28.

The US dollar and sterling were both weaker.

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