Dollar rises, oil slides after bin Laden killed

China Daily / Agencies, May 2, 2011

US crude fell more than 1 percent to a session low of $112.21, retreating from a 31-month peak of $114.18 set on Friday.

The dollar index , which tracks its performance against a basket of major currencies, jumped from a three-year low of 72.813 to 73.227.

US Treasury yields pushed higher across the curve with the 10-year rising to 3.308 percent from a six-week trough of 3.273 percent.

Meanwhile, silver was nursing heavy losses after skidding about 10 percent to a low of $42.58 . It last stood at $44.64, off a record high of $49.51 set last week. Gold fell to $1,548 from an all-time high of $1,575.79.

Still, once the dust settles, analysts expect the recent trends including a weak US dollar and higher commodity prices to resume, especially given that the US Federal Reserve in no hurry to tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy.

"The economic data in the US is still going to be on the soft side and the market is going to keep a lid on yields and that is going to help push down the dollar," said Joseph Capurso, strategist at Commonwealth Bank.

Some were also skeptical of whether bin Laden death would reduce the security risks facing the United States.

"It doesn't change much about the energy situation and doesn't change much about the ongoing battle with radical Islamists," said Chip Hanlon, president of Delta Global Advisors in California.

"It's sort of like the news when we heard Saddam (Hussein) was caught, in the end it didn't change much fundamentally and I don't think this will either."