Fundamental Oil | Learn Forex | GoLearnForex.com

Greece’s possible failure to reach a deal over the debt restructuring issue ahead of today’s deadline determined investors to seek safe haven on worries growth in Europe will deteriorate. This pushed the dollar higher towards the 79.30 level and the euro down towards the 1.3070 level.

If Greece will fail to obtain a second bailout, the nation may default in March; this could suppress demand on oil from the euro-zone. This added to the downside pressures imposed today on crude oil which trades as of this writing around the $97.40, while Brent is around the $115.00 level.

Limiting oil’s losses today was the robust U.S. jobs data on Friday, which provided more signs of recovery as the economy added much more jobs in Jan. than previously expected, which might keep demand on oil strong from the largest oil consumer in the world.

Meanwhile the prospects for a soft landing in China and continuing tensions between Tehran and the west provide an upside support to oil prices, especially since economic data was be scarce today, limited only to Germany’s factory orders which proved better-than-expected in Dec.

More relief was felt during the weekend when US President Barak Obama said he hopes that his country and Israel might solve Iran’s nuclear issue without a military intervention and that Tel Aviv did not decide yet to attack Iran, meanwhile Tehran continue to threaten as a respond to the sanctions.

The stronger signs of recovery from the US lowered the chances for further stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which gave the dollar an additional upside push, driving commodity prices lower; yet the focus continues to be on Greece as the deadline looms.