Oil prices steady
LONDON—World oil prices were narrowly mixed on Tuesday, steadying a day after falling heavily on concerns that the eurozone debt crisis could slash demand.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, dipped 31 cents to $97.83 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for December edged up 11 cents to $111.98 in London midday trading. The contract shed more than $2 on Monday.
“Crude oil prices look likely to remain under pressure with immediate access to credit markets for Italy and Spain fundamental for short-term sentiment,” Jack Pollard, an analyst at Sucden Financial Research, said on Tuesday.
Markets fear that Spain could join Greece and Italy in succumbing to eurozone financial instability.
Spain’s debt risk premium shattered euro era records on Tuesday on fears over its public deficit, a clear warning to the next government just five days before a general election.
The risk premium – the extra return investors demand to buy Spanish 10-year government bonds over comparable safe-haven German debt – broke records for a second day, reaching 4.564 percentage points.
