Heating oil prices climb after last week's slump

16 November 2009

Wholesale heating oil prices were approaching $2 (€1.33) a gallon once more during early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (November 16th).

During the Asian trading session, the near-term heating oil contract found support from weakness in the dollar, which last week put pressure on all dollar-priced commodities as the currency enjoyed a resurgence.

The greenback has languished against major competitors such as the euro and the yen since the start of the downturn, but last week the currency strengthened, making dollar-priced commodities such as gold, crude and heating oil less attractive to foreign buyers.

However, the dollar fell back into its bearish cycle this morning and gains were witnessed in both crude and heating oil prices.

Further support was found in a Bloomberg poll predicting a recovery in demand in the US over the coming weeks.

"As long as Asia is doing well and Europe and the US aren't doing terribly, the risk trade is going to continue and that will push crude up and the dollar down," commented Jonathan Kornafel, director for Asia at options traders Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.

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