February 11, 2014 Yahoo Finance
Natural gas prices jumped over $1 after Yellen’s remarks; The price may find support near $4.28 per million British Thermal Units (MBTU) on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
- Crude Oil futures hit $100, huge resistance seen near 100.73
- Yellen says labor market recovery is far from complete
Natural gas and crude oil futures rose on Tuesday as financial markets viewed Janet Yellen’s labor market remarks as dovish and as a result the US dollar (USD) slipped.
Only a “significant change in the economic outlook,” Yellen proclaimed, could prompt the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to slow the current pace of scaling back its $65 billion monthly asset purchase program. . Although the labor market recovery is not very impressive, growth has accelerated considerably, Yellen said. Financial markets viewed the remarks as dovish, as the pace of the reduction is tied to the recovery in the labor market. Yellen’s remarks came days after a Labor Department report showed the US economy could add far fewer jobs in January than expected. However, the unemployment rate fell to 6.6% last month, very close to the Fed’s 6.5% threshold, after which a change in policy could be expected. FOMC members will meet March 18-19, where they will analyze January and February jobs data before voting on the pace of the asset purchase program.
