Heating oil moves lower, tracking crude

16 June 2010

Written by Neil Brunskill

Heating oil prices were marginally lower by the time European markets opened this morning (June 16th), reversing gains made in the Asian trading session.

The commodity mimicked movements in crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and at 03:03 Central Standard Time the July-delivery heating oil contract was down 0.63 cents at $2.0622 a barrel.

After early reaching a one-month high above $77 a barrel, crude oil prices had retreated to $76.50 a barrel as trading got underway in Europe.

Both commodities had rallied after share markets climbed in the US yesterday and these gains were extended as key Asian equity indexes rose this morning.

Speaking to Reuters, Sano, general manager of research at SCM Securities in Tokyo, explained: "Oil is basically moving with stock markets and the stock markets are moving with optimism and pessimism over the euro."

He added that over the next two to three months, crude is likely to trade within a range of $75 to $85 a barrel.