Heating oil flat on growth concerns

18 June 2010

Written by Kim Bardsley

Heating oil prices were flat on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (June 18th), facing downside pressure amid a raft of weak economic signals from the US, the world's largest energy consumer.

Jobless claims in the country rose unexpectedly last week, with layoffs coming predominately from the manufacturing, construction and education sector.

Meanwhile, factory activity in the US mid-Atlantic region also slowed to its dullest pace in ten months.

Speaking to Reuters, David Moore, an analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said traders were cautious about the figures.

"US economic data is quite uneven and that has raised doubts about the robustness of the economic recovery. Fundamentally, the market is not tight. Inventories are high and there is surplus capacity," he said.

As European markets opened, heating oil prices were trading marginally lower at $2.1450 (€1.730), down a fraction of a cent on yesterday's settle price of $2.1474.