Heating oil slips below $1.90

21 May 2010

Written by Kim Bardsley

Heating oil prices were down on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning, with bearish traders bringing the commodity below $1.90 a gallon.

Losses were also seen in crude prices, which were vulnerable amid continued anxiety about Europe's debt crisis.

Stock markets were also down in Asian trading this morning and as European markets opened, the FTSE 100 was teetering around the 5,000 mark.

Speaking to Reuters, Clarence Chu, a trader at Hudson Capital, said markets are jittery about a potential discord among European leaders attempting to tackle the regional debt crisis.

France and Germany have clashed over the latter's decision to enact a ban on naked short selling, whereby traders aim to profit by betting that the price of certain assets will fall. The ban applies to the euro, euro-denominated bonds and German blue-chip stock.

"The only thing keeping them on the same page is to prevent a total collapse of the euro," said Mr Chu.