London bombs cause price fluctuations

The price of crude oil saw wide fluctuations in the wake of the attacks in London.

Before news of the explosions, Brent crude oil on the International Petroleum Exchange in London had reached a record high of $60.70 per barrel.

After the news of the attacks, however, the price of Brent crude fell $5.15 in the space of two hours, to $55.55.

By the end of trade, however, Brent had recovered to $59.28 per barrel, still down 57 cents from Wednesday’s close.

West Texas Intermediate ended the day 55 cents below Wednesday’s close at $60.73 per barrel in New York. It had hit a new record high of $62.10 per barrel early in the day but had been down to $57.20 per barrel before recovering to its price at the close of trade.

Analysts said that the steep drops in crude oil prices had to do with fears that the day’s events were going to take on proportions similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.

Right after 9/11, oil prices jumped by $1 per barrel before falling for the rest of the year because of a slowed economy and a huge drop in air travel. The price of gold was also affected by the London attacks, jumping by $4 on the news, only to fall back to $425.05/$425.80, still a gain of $2 on the day.