Volatile Markets See Nymex Crude Drop Over 5% | June 24, 2011

WTI crude futures fell over 5% to lows of below $90 a barrel

The U.S. stock market ended the overnight session small down after an evening of volatile trading, the Dow settled down 0.50%, to 12050, after recovering from a low of 11874 while the S&P500 index dropped 3.5 points.

The Euro which traded as low as 1.4127 overnight has rallied above the 1.4250 level on the back of reports that suggest Greece has had an agreement with the team of EU-IMF inspectors for its new five-year austerity plan after committing to an additional round of taxes and widespread spending cuts.

GBPUSD traded to a low of 1.5934, the break below the 1.6000 level is the first time since early April following weaker data from the retail sector early in the European session.

WTI crude futures fell over 5% to lows of below $90 a barrel overnight after the International Energy Agency announced that they  would release  60 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserves of 28 nations over the next month. The decision was aimed to offset market disruptions prompted by the war in Libya, this is only the third time the IEA has undertaken such a collective action.

Gold and Silver both tumbled after the IEA announcement intensified investor expectations of lower inflation.