Crude oil prices today fell as fundamental data released today highlighted a fragile economy with consumer confidence reaching a record low. The CB consumer confidence figures released  this morning came in at 37.7, against a forecast of 38.7 and a previous of 38.6, setting a new record low for the index, and surpassing the previous record low of a month ago. On release of the data,  the March futures contracts for light sweet crude on NYMEX lost $2.40 per barrel, falling to $43.30 a barrel before recovering slightly in later trading. The CB consumer index is a leading indicator which uses a survey of 5000 households to gauge consumer confidence and as such provides an early indicator of end user sentiment in the broad economy. With such low confidence both in industry and in the consumer market, demand for oil is falling continously, whilst suppliers and producers stockpile wherever possible, in the hope of higher oil prices in the future.

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