With the dollar strengthening against the Euro and weaker gold prices, oil prices fell below $77 per barrel on Thursday; thereby dampening other commodities and offsetting the optimistic news on the US economy.

The New York Mercantile Exchange witnessed light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March being traded at $76.92 per barrel at 0708 GMT; marking a fall of 41 cents in the Globex electronic session. Meanwhile, April Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange dropped 45 cents to $75.82 per barrel.

Nonetheless, noting that the Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against other trade-weighted currencies, last traded 0.18 more at 80.56, David Moore - Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s commodities strategist – said that “the price is still within the recent trading range... the market is waiting for the EIA (Energy Information Administration) data for more indication.” The EIA data is scheduled to be released late Thursday.

As the Dollar Index rose nearly 0.2 percent against a basket of currencies, almost touching a seven-month high, oil and other commodities became more expensive for the holders of other currencies.

Commenting on the scenario, Peter McGuire, managing director of Sydney-based Commodity Warrants Australia, said that while almost all commodities went up on Tuesday evening, a majority of them “took a nosedive.”