Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 2/4/22

Oil traded near the highest level in more than two years as political upheaval in top crude exporter Saudi Arabia reverberated through a market where prices were already elevated by signs of tightening supply. Investors have piled into oil as a shake-up of the ruling elite in OPEC’s biggest producer was seen to consolidate power with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who backs extending the group’s output cuts aimed at clearing a global glut. The purge also raised concern over instability in the kingdom, supporting a geopolitical-risk premium on crude that’s emerged with heightened tensions surrounding nations such as Iraq and Iran. Oil’s gained more than 20 percent since the beginning of September on signs global supplies are tightening and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies may prolong their output deal past March. Click Read More below for additional information.

National Average Price for Regular – Current: $2.904; Month Ago: $2.879; Year Ago: $2.318. National Average Price for Diesel – Current: $3.191; Month Ago: $3.140; Year Ago: $2.485.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index declined 1.2% in April after decreasing 2.2% in March. In April, the index equaled 111.7 (2015=100) compared with 113.1 in March. “The truck freight market remained soft in April as seasonally adjusted volumes fell for the second straight month,” said American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello. “With a rebound in freight remaining elusive, it is likely that additional capacity will leave the industry in the face of continued softness in the market.” March’s decrease was revised down slightly from our April 23 press release. Compared with April 2023, the index fell 1.5%, which was the fourteenth straight year-over-year decline. In March, the index was down 1.3% from a year earlier.