Oil rises ahead of Federal Reserve's policy meeting resultsDecember 12, 2012 - 09:50 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil rose Wednesday, Dec 12, as investors anticipated that new measures to perk up the U.S. economy will be announced at the end of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting. Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 8 cents to $85.87 per barrel at midday Bangkok time on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 23 cents to finish at $85.79 per barrel in New York on Tuesday. It was the first time crude closed higher after falling for five straight sessions. There's a widespread expectation that the Fed will Wednesday announce more bond-buying. The Fed has been selling $45 billion a month in short-term Treasurys and using the proceeds to buy an equal amount of longer-term securities. The intent is to lower long-term borrowing rates and encourage spending. "If that happens, that will mean the U.S. dollar will get weaker and that generally supports the buying of oil futures," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. That's because a weaker dollar makes commodities like oil less expensive for investors holding other currencies. Oil also got a boost from a survey that indicated German investors believe Europe's largest economy may avoid slipping into recession, although growth is expected to remain tepid. Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, was unchanged at $108.01 per barrel in London. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |