NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices fell Thursday as renewed doubts over Greece's bail out plan overshadowed a positive jobs report.
What prices are doing: Crude oil for May delivery dipped 8 cents to settle at $80.53 a barrel.
.png) |
| For more commodities prices, click chart. |
What's moving the market: Prices pushed up to $81.48 a barrel earlier in trading, but they could not hold the gains for long as renewed doubt over a Greek bail overshadowed an upbeat jobs report. The positive news helped push all three stock indexes to new 18-month highs.
Oil prices also retreated after comments by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet spooked investors. He called the greek bailout "very, very bad."
What analysts are saying: "Trichet swept the legs out from under the oil market," said Bradley Samples, a commodities analyst for Summit Energy.
Now "we're back to square one," he added.
Eurozone nations, including Germany and France had been back and forth for weeks on a potential rescue plan for Greece.
But some analysts say that Greek's reluctance to take the help will keep a cap on oil prices for now.
"You're never in a good position when you need to ask IMF for help and Greece is unwilling to do this," said Hamza Khan, a commodities analyst for The Schork Group.
"Until they reach out [for help] German isn't going to do anything and we're going to continue see concerns with the euro."
Looking ahead: Investors are awaiting a closely watched consumer sentiment report due out on Friday. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is forecast to tick up slightly, signaling an improvement in how consumers feel about the economy. And when the economy is stronger there is higher demand for oil. 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.80% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.09% | 3.11% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.65% | 2.69% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.77% | 3.86% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.09% | 3.21% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 12,454.83 | -74.92 | -0.60% |
| Nasdaq | 2,837.53 | -1.85 | -0.07% |
| S&P 500 | 1,317.82 | -2.86 | -0.22% |
| Treasuries | 1.74 | -0.01 | -0.80% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 7.15 | 0.01 | 0.14% |
| Sprint Nextel Corp | 2.62 | 0.09 | 3.56% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 16.33 | -0.06 | -0.37% |
| Chesapeake Energy Co... | 15.81 | 0.23 | 1.48% |
| Ford Motor Co | 10.60 | 0.01 | 0.09% |
|
The Senate hearing will focus JPMorgan's recent $2 billion trading loss, which Dimon announced earlier this month. More |
The offer for mail handlers is part of the Postal Service's plan to cut 150,000 jobs by 2015. More |
In the whirlwind of its IPO fallout, there has been a sort of glee in watching the company stumble. What's driving the Facebook-schadenfreude and what can the social network do about it? More |
One in six children in the United States is obese. These small businesses have found creative -- and lucrative -- ways to fight the childhood obesity epidemic. More |
In Harper County, Kansas, oil companies are offering farmers up to $1,250 an acre for the mineral rights that allow them to drill for oil on their property. More |
.
