As risk appetite has returned, so NYMEX has risen, with prices for US crude pushing back to $86 per barrel by Wednesday, before retreating slightly to $84.63 on Thursday morning.
 
Apparent improvements in the eurozone debt crisis, which rumbles on, helped to bolster confidence among investors, on hopes that eurozone leaders might finally pull together and come up with a comprehensive solution to the crisis. A strong report on US jobs from the non-farm payrolls figures also eased concerns that the US economy was beginning to flounder, with 103,000 jobs added during September, far ahead of expectations.
 
Nonetheless, NYMEX prices have trended lower since the beginning of May this year, and further falls were recorded on Thursday morning after news that Chinese crude imports had fallen to their third-lowest level for the year, while US gasoline demand dropped 10.5% for the week to 7 October, its biggest decline since March 2006. We are not out of the economic woods yet, and it will take time before we know for certain whether the global economy is holding up. Until then, further declines for oil cannot be ruled out.