Heating oil prices climb on US financials

3 February 2010

Written by Kim Bardsley

Wholesale heating oil prices recorded a large one-day jump yesterday (February 2nd) after a slew of financial earnings reports from bellwether company including United Parcel Service and Emerson Electric.

By the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the near-term heating oil contract breached the $2 (€1.43) mark and closed for the day at $2.0317, up 7.68 cents.

Crude prices also recorded comparable gains on the exchange yesterday, with the headline contract closing above $77 a barrel, recording its largest single-day gain in four months.

Although the strong financial earnings reports provided support for crude and other commodities yesterday, figures from the American Petroleum Institute published late in the US trading session put the focus back on demand fundamentals.

Prices in both commodities have fallen this morning of the latest report, which showed a 4.7 million-barrel rise in crude inventories last week, demonstrating the continued weakness in fuel demand throughout the world's largest energy consumer nation.

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