Oil steady as Cyprus bailout deal comes under renewed scrutinyMarch 26, 2013 - 10:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil was steady Tuesday, March 26, as a financial rescue package to keep Cyprus from bankruptcy came under renewed scrutiny, The Associated Press reports. Benchmark crude for May delivery was down 1 cent to US$94.80 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.10 to finish at $94.81 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday. That was the highest New York closing since Feb 20. Cyprus secured 10 billion euros ($13 billion) of rescue loans early Monday, just hours before a deadline set by the European Central Bank. Under the deal, the country agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on large depositors in troubled banks. The deal was initially applauded, but later sparked worry and stock market losses across Europe after Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said inflicting losses on the banks' shareholders, bondholders and large depositors should become Europe's default approach for dealing with ailing lenders. Matt Basi of CMC Markets said in an email commentary that the drama surrounding Cyprus "has knocked the confidence of many deposit holders across Europe that policy makers will struggle to win back." Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, fell 4 cents to $108.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange 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 | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |