Heating oil down after volatile trading

24/06/2009

Heating oil prices traded down in electronic activity on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) this morning (June 24th) after a day of volatile trading.

In electronic activity yesterday, the heating oil contract followed crude downwards on fears that prospects for economic recovery were weakening.

However, the July delivery heating oil contract surged once the Nymex opened for trading in the US and finished the day at $1.769 (£1.06), up 4.15 cents on the gallon.

The gains mimicked late rises during trading in Nymex crude futures, which closed the day up $1.74 at $69.24, moving away from losses at the start of the week.

However, both heating oil and crude have slipped this morning as investors have taken stock of weak US gasoline demand data published by the American Petroleum Institute yesterday.

"We're seeing potentially the third week in a row of increased gasoline stocks, which is a cautious sign and would indicate that demand conditions are not that strong," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist with ANZ Bank, speaking to Reuters.