• Crude Oil trades near the year-to-date low recorded on Thursday below $70.00.
• Sketchy OPEC communication leaves traders in the dark for the next movements. 
• The US Dollar Index trades just below 101.00 ahead of the US Employment Report. 

Crude Oil consolidates this week’s sharp decline to a fresh year-to-date low below $70.00 for a second day in a row on Friday. Crude Oil prices remain subdued mostly because of the sketchy communication from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC ). Although several delegates from the consortium might have said that a deal is near to delaying production normalization, markets would have thought that OPEC would come up with far more thorough and impactful measures that would support Crude Oil prices more substantially. 

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against a basket of currencies, is falling just below 101.00 ahead of the US Employment Report for August. With market expectations stretched to a near 100 basis points cut in the Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate by November (it looks like markets have priced in a bit too much easing from the Fed), the US Nonfarm Payrolls report on Friday might signal a steady soft landing, which would suggest smaller increments of 25 basis points per Fed meeting. This could see the US Dollar jump higher as yields would soar.