Related News
Oil ends little changed
Source: Agencies |
April 23, 2010, Friday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
OIL prices tumbled as the stock market lost ground yesterday, then recovered to settle pennies higher as the Dow Jones industrial average pared earlier losses.
Benchmark crude for June delivery rose 2 cents to settle at US$83.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In late trading, the Dow rose about 12 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,137, after being down as much as 108.
The market gained back ground after President Barack Obama ended a speech calling for congressional passage of a financial regulation overhaul bill. The Senate may debate the financial overhaul bill next week.
Meanwhile, the price of natural gas rose 17.3 cents to settle at US$4.128 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Earlier, the Energy Department said that the United States' natural gas inventories grew by 73 billion cubic feet to about 1.83 trillion cubic feet for the week ended April 16. Analysts expected a bigger boost of between 76 billion and 80 billion cubic feet.
PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said the news caught the market by surprise.
With recent mild weather and rising rig counts, "there was an expectation that we'd see more production, less demand and a bigger than expected increase in inventory," he said.
Flynn suggested that stronger manufacturing figures could have helped boost demand for natural gas and production may not have been as high as the rig count indicated.
"Traders got too bearish too soon," he said.
The debt crisis in Greece continues to dampen expectations for an economic recovery and stronger energy demand, Flynn added. Greece's mounting problems are also weighing on the euro, bolstering the dollar and hurting oil prices. A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for holders of other currencies.
In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil rose 0.92 cent to settle at US$2.215 a gallon and gasoline added 1.75 cents to close at US$2.3002 a gallon.
In London, Brent crude edged down 3 cents to settle at US$85.67 on the ICE Futures exchange.
Benchmark crude for June delivery rose 2 cents to settle at US$83.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In late trading, the Dow rose about 12 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,137, after being down as much as 108.
The market gained back ground after President Barack Obama ended a speech calling for congressional passage of a financial regulation overhaul bill. The Senate may debate the financial overhaul bill next week.
Meanwhile, the price of natural gas rose 17.3 cents to settle at US$4.128 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Earlier, the Energy Department said that the United States' natural gas inventories grew by 73 billion cubic feet to about 1.83 trillion cubic feet for the week ended April 16. Analysts expected a bigger boost of between 76 billion and 80 billion cubic feet.
PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said the news caught the market by surprise.
With recent mild weather and rising rig counts, "there was an expectation that we'd see more production, less demand and a bigger than expected increase in inventory," he said.
Flynn suggested that stronger manufacturing figures could have helped boost demand for natural gas and production may not have been as high as the rig count indicated.
"Traders got too bearish too soon," he said.
The debt crisis in Greece continues to dampen expectations for an economic recovery and stronger energy demand, Flynn added. Greece's mounting problems are also weighing on the euro, bolstering the dollar and hurting oil prices. A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for holders of other currencies.
In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil rose 0.92 cent to settle at US$2.215 a gallon and gasoline added 1.75 cents to close at US$2.3002 a gallon.
In London, Brent crude edged down 3 cents to settle at US$85.67 on the ICE Futures exchange.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
