Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 8/06/21

What a difference a week can make. Oil prices surged to their highest level in over three years last week, and strategists were marveling that prices had shot up so quickly. Now prices are slumping. US crude oil futures have dropped by nearly 10% to trade around $66.50 per barrel, down from about $73 last week. Global benchmark Brent crude oil has dropped by about 6% to trade around $76, after peaking above $80. The sharp price decline was triggered on Friday by Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil exporter in the world and de facto leader of oil cartel OPEC. Click Read More below for additional information.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.481; Month Ago: $3.501; Year Ago: $3.803. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.807; Month Ago: $3.823; Year Ago: $4.103.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 0.3% in April after increasing 2.3% in March. In April, the index equaled 114.7 (2015=100) compared with 115.1 in March. “After a revised increase in March of 2.3%, the April index declined just slightly,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The outlook is solid for tonnage going forward as the country approaches pre-pandemic levels of activity, with strong economic growth in key areas for trucking – including retail, home construction and even manufacturing. “Additionally, the index increased on a year-over-year basis for the first time since March 2020. Part of the reason for the gain was due to an easy comparison with when the index fell significantly in April 2020,” he said. “But I’m expecting increases, albeit smaller than April’s, on a year-over-year basis going forward. Trucking’s biggest challenges are not on the demand side, but on the supply side, including difficulty finding qualified drivers.”