Oil wavers as traders await hints on demand
Crude futures wavered between small losses and gains Monday as traders watched developments on the U.S. debt crisis for hints on the outlook for energy demand.
Light, sweet crude for delivery in February CLG3 +0.14% traded at $93.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 3 cents. They suffered a 26-cent loss on Friday.
“It looks like the rhetoric is starting to heat up regarding the [U.S.] debt crisis on both sides of the aisle,” wrote Tariq Zahir, managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors, in emailed remarks.
At a news conference Monday, President Barack Obama again urged Congress to increase the debt ceiling, saying that inaction could roil financial markets. See: Failure to hike debt limit may roil markets, says Obama.
For now, Zahir said oil prices are seeing key resistance around $94.20. “We feel we need a catalyst to get through that level,” he added.
Oil futures had briefly touched a high of $94.29 earlier, as the dollar weakened, but the currency has since moved off the day’s lows.
The ICE dollar index DXY -0.03% , which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major global currencies, was at 79.544, above earlier lows at 79.345, but still below 79.566 in North America late on Friday. Weakness in the greenback tends to provide support for dollar-denominated commodities. See: Yen hits multiyear lows; dollar slips too.
Reuters
The headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Looking ahead, Tim Evans, an energy-futures specialist at Citi Futures, said he doesn’t expect to see a “solid push” in oil prices before Wednesday, when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries issues its monthly oil report and the U.S. Energy Information Administration releases its weekly petroleum-inventory data.
Rounding out action among energy futures Monday, February heating oil HOG3 +1.40% rose 3 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.04 a gallon and February gasoline RBG3 +0.19% was flat at $2.74 per gallon.
Natural-gas futures for delivery in February added 7 cents, or 2%, to $3.40 per million British thermal units, extending a 4.2% gain seen on Friday.
“While the cooling trend in the forecast can be seen as supportive, the overall level of heating demand remains moderate,” wrote Evans in a note. |
发表于 2013-1-14 14:55
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