Heating oil holds on to gains

6 April 2010

Written by Kim Bardsley

Heating oil prices were marginally lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (April 6th) after the commodity rose sharply during trading yesterday on the back of improving economic conditions in the US.

Crude oil prices also rallied yesterday, gaining 2.1 per cent during the day to close at $86.62 a barrel (€64.58), after a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed a strong uptick in the services industry in March.

Speaking to Reuters, David Moore, commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, commented: "I don't think that the fundamentals necessarily justify such a high price, but the underlying tone in the market remains very positive."

However, he added that further rallies may be dampened by a stronger dollar this morning may make the commodities less attractive to foreign buyers.

As European markets opened, the greenback had climbed 0.4 per cent against a basket of currencies tracked by the news agency.

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