Oil prices drop after US debt deal

Oil prices moved down Thursday as traders took profits after a rally inspired by the deal to raise US debt ceiling. The US government ended its partial shutdown after President Barack Obama signed into law the last-minute deal, which passed both the Republican-led House of Representatives and Democrat- dominated Senate Wednesday night. The bill funds the government through Jan. 15 and extends the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. However, concerns arise as investors digested the temporary fiscal deal, which failed to address many of the contentious issues but sow the seeds of another fiscal fight in the near future. The two days of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Iran's nuclear program also weighed on prices. Reports said U.S. officials saying they are beginning to see the outlines of a potential deal. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, didn't release weekly inventory data this week because of the government partial shutdown. On the economic front, U.S. last week's jobless claims were higher than the market consensus. U.S. jobless claims last week decreased by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000, said the Labor Department. Light, sweet crude for November delivery decreased 1.62 dollars to settle at 100.67 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,while Brent crude for November delivery lost 1.75 dollars to close at 109.11 dollars a barrel.