Oil approaches $72 in electronic trade

19/06/2009

Crude futures have moved upwards again this morning (June 19th), supported by positive employment figures and a strong performance in equities trading.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) July delivery contract was trading at $71.97 (£43.78) at 06:02 Eastern Time, up 60 cents on yesterday's settle price.

Speaking to Reuters about yesterday's gains, Gene McGillian, analyst for Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, commented: "I think that the Philly Fed report which showed manufacturing contracting at the lowest rate in nine months and the ... first drop in 21 weeks [in continuing job benefit claims] helped turn the market around."

Crude and heating oil both slumped at the start of the week as concerns about the market getting ahead of itself grew.

A stronger dollar also helped to pull investors away from commodities, although the greenback weakened on Tuesday.

In trading this morning, Nymex heating oil prices moved upwards in line with crude, with the July delivery contract hitting $1.8552 a gallon at 06:06 Eastern Time.