Heating oil defies weak dollar, crude trend

15 March 2010

Written by Bob Burton

Heating oil prices traded higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (March 15th) despite a stronger dollar and concerns about demand that left crude prices stagnant.

During the electronic trading session of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the headline heating oil contract was trading above $2.10 (€1.53) a gallon, up more than a cent as European markets opened.

Gains came despite a rally in the dollar and concerns that the amount of oil in the market is outstripping global demand.

Foreign traders are conventionally put off by a stronger dollar as this reduces profitability on dollar-priced commodities such as crude and heating oil.

However, in today's session heating oil prices were resilient to these pressures and were clawing back losses witnessed at the close of trading last week.

Ben Westmore, commodities analyst at the National Australia Bank in Melbourne, told Reuters that sentiment was "a bit mixed" in trading today, with traders looking for a firm direction.

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