Heating oil gains after stable trade

29/04/2009

Heating oil prices were rising in New York this morning, moving away from the sharp falls that have been seen in electronic trading earlier this week.

Since Monday (April 27th), heating oil contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange have nosedived during electronic trading and pared losses by the end of trading.

Yesterday, the near-term heating oil contract settled at $1.3167 a gallon, down 0.6 cents.

This morning, heating oil prices had risen 1.82 cents by 05:37 Eastern Time to trade at $1.3349 a gallon.

The upward movement, although spurred in part by the dollar, could also be a sign that fears of economic stagnation arising from the spread of swine flu are beginning to ease.

Analysts and traders may also be waiting for the publication of data from the Energy Information Administration later today showing whether stockpiles of crude, heating oil, gasoline and other distillates rose or fell last week.