BUSINESS BRIEFS
China, Iraq moves contribute to drop in crude oil prices
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Oil prices dropped sharply yesterday after China said it will raise fuel prices, a move that could dampen the booming Asian nation's oil consumption.
Prices also were given a downward push by the Iraqi Oil Ministry's announcement that it is close to signing oil-service deals with several major Western oil companies in an effort to boost its crude output.
Retail gas prices, meanwhile, slid overnight.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $4.75 to settle at $131.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
China disclosed that it will raise prices for gasoline and diesel fuel 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively, beginning today.
Growing Chinese demand for oil has underpinned the multiyear rally in oil prices, but higher prices could crimp that demand. Concerns about spiking Chinese demand for diesel due to cleanup operations in the aftermath of last month's earthquake contributed to oil's recent run-up.
ECONOMY MOVING AT A SNAIL'S PACE
NEW YORK — The economy, hobbled by higher fuel and food prices, tighter credit and a depressed housing market, is limping along at a snail's pace, a private business group said yesterday.
Separately, the number of newly laid-off workers filing for unemployment benefits remained at worrisomely high levels, even as it dropped slightly last week.
The New York-based Conference Board said its economic indicators rose 0.1 percent in May, matching expectations of economists surveyed by Thomson-/IFR. The increase in the indicators, a measure of future economic activity, equaled April's 0.1 percent advance. The Conference Board revised March's number down from 0.1 to zero.
The index is designed to forecast economic activity in the next three to six months based on 10 components, including stock prices, building permits and initial claims for unemployment benefits.
