WTI crude oil for February delivery plunged to as low as 40.54 after the US' poor jobless claims data. Although initial jobless claims increased by 467 K for the week ended Jan 3, better than market expected of +540K, the total number of people getting benefits rose to 4.6M, the highest level since 1982. Weak employment is an indication of economic contraction and demand reduction. The black gold futures then closed at 41.7.

Today in Asian session, oil price trades narrowly around 42 level as traders find it a bargain at around $40/bbl. In fact, WTI crude oil price has been heavily sold off after the poorer-than-expected oil inventory data in the US and it's been currently trading at a $3-4/bbl discount to Brent oil recently (To know more about different kinds of oil, please click here).

Economic conditions in Gulf States, whose revenue stream mainly comes from oil export, will likely slow down significantly this year. According to forecast by Standard Chartered, GDP in UAE will expand by only 0.5% (down from previous forecast of 2.7%) while that for Saudi Arabia, over 75% of the nation's revenue is based on oil price, will be increased to 1%. At the same time, inflationary pressure will also be eased.

Concerning stock markets, despite US shares' rally yesterday, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.1% while Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.3% in the morning, led by decline in manufacturing stocks amid demand concerns.

Gold price continues to consolidate with a range of 829.8 and 892. Investors are bearish on the euro as ECB will likely slash interest rate in the meeting next week after recent poor economic data and the BoE's rate cut of 50 bps yesterday. However, US' non-farm payrolls in December remain the focus of the day and investors will probably hold their breath and wait for the data first. Economists forecast non-farm payrolls in December would have reduced by 550K after falling 533K in November. A worse-than-expected figure will surely trigger selloff in the USD (USD and gold are inversely correlated).

Platinum price has been in its winning streak for the 6th day as stimulated by Obama's infrastructure programs. In India, physical demand for platinum also saw improvement due to low prices.