Dow cracks below 11,000, Oil Hits $147.2

Dow cracks below 11,000 on Wall Street slide

NEW YORK: US stocks slid further on Friday, sending indexes down about 2 percent or more and the Dow briefly below 11,000 for the first time since July 2006, as investors fretted about the stability of home financing providers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

US stocks tumble on Fannie, Freddie, oil
-----------------------------------------------------------
Oil prices jump above $147 over conflict in Middle East
Oil prices spiked to a new record above $147 a barrel on Friday, as rising hostilities between the West and Iran and the potential for attacks on Nigerian oil facilities gave investors reason to rush back into the energy markets. Light, sweet crude for August delivery jumped $4.69 to $146.34 a barrel in early trading on the Nymex, after reaching an all-time high of $147.27. August Brent crude rose to a new trading record of $147.50 before easing back to trade $4.82 higher at $146.85 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

The resurgence in crude prices not only raises the concern that $4-a-gallon ($1.05 a liter) gasoline is here to stay for US drivers it also means that heating American homes could get significantly more expensive this winter. Heating oil futures surged on the New York Mercantile Exchange to a record of more than $4.15 a gallon ($1.09 a liter), and natural gas also rose sharply. Iran, which has long been under UN scrutiny for its uranium enrichment program, has been testing missiles this week, including a new missile capable of reaching Israel.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned the oil-producing nation that the United States will defend its allies, and Iran responded with another missile launch. Crude had fallen by nearly $10 a barrel over two days at the start of the week, but rebounded by more than $5 a barrel Thursday as anxiety heightened about Middle East and Nigerian supplies being disrupted. Neither the United States nor Israel has ruled out a military strike on Iran. Traders fear the oil producing nation could block the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 40 percent of the world's tanker traffic passes.

``There's always a fear premium in pricing. The tensions in Iran and the threat of supply disruption will help support oil prices,'' said Jeff Brown, managing director of FACTS Global Energy in Singapore. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries warned Thursday that it cannot replace the shortfall if Iran is attacked and takes its crude supplies off the market. Also Thursday, Nigeria's main militant group said it would resume attacks in the oil-rich region because of Britain's recent vow to back the government in the conflict there. Unrest over the past two years have already lowered the nation's typical daily oil output by a quarter. Continued...Next >>
-----------------------------------------------------

Source: ET