Nymex crude slips below USD 100/bbl, down nearly 9%

It was carnage across the commodity space, oil collapsed into free-fall diving more than 10% & the Nymex crude prices slipping below the USD 100 a barrel mark. The resurgent dollar, coupled with demand concerns & disappointing economic data weighed on sentiment. Brent prices too dropped to USD 111 a barrel levels yesterday, which was trading at USD 112 a barrel, up 1.3% today.

There was a broad based sell off in commodities as the dollar surged on the back of commentary from ECB Head Jean Claude Trichet as well as short covering from its recent sell-off. As a result the CRB commodity index dropped nearly 5%. It was a free fall across precious metals too. Silver prices were shedding another 8% - heading for its biggest weekly loss since 1983, as panic selling accelerated across the commodities sector. The CME raising margins also weighed on sentiment. Gold too fell over 2%, was down over USD 95 from its recent all-time highs. Copper too nosedived more than 3% to its lowest level since December as fears about sputtering global growth and growing inflation risk triggered a vicious cross-commodity crash. Eric Stein, VP, Eaton Vance Management said, "In times like these its better to have a long term perspective. In the short term we think that the margin increases of silver are causing some other clients."