Crude moves up again

Healthy data pushes crude higher

Crude oil prices ended higher on Monday, 14 June 2010 at Nymex. Prices were buoyed by weak dollar and strong economic data from the euro front. Prices rose despite news that ratings agency Moody's cut Greece's debt four notches to BA1, "junk" bond status.



On Monday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for July delivery closed at $76.28/barrel (higher by $0.94 or 1.3%). For the week, prices gained 3.1%.

For the month of May, crude shed 14%. It was the biggest monthly drop for crude since December 2008. For the month of April, crude rose 2.8%. For the first quarter of this year, crude rose by 5.5%. Year to date, crude is higher by 6.3%.

Among global economic data scheduled for the day, Eurostat said on Monday that euro-zone industrial production climbed 0.8% in April, or a 9.5% year-on-year increase. On an annual basis, industrial production rose in every euro-zone country except Greece and Ireland.

In the currency market on Monday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by almost 0.9%.

On Monday, among other energy related products, reformulated gasoline for July delivery rose 3 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $2.07 a gallon. Heating oil for July delivery added 2 cents, or 1%, to $2.02 a gallon.

On Monday, natural gas for July delivery, the most active contract, added 23 cents, or 4.7%, to $5 per million British thermal units, the highest price for a most-active contract since mid-February.

Crude ended FY 2009 higher by 78%, the highest yearly gain since 1999. It reached a high of $82 earlier in October 2009 and hit a low of $33.98 on 12 February 2009. Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

At the MCX, crude oil for June delivery closed higher by Rs 8 (0.23%) at Rs 3,486/barrel. Natural gas for June delivery closed at Rs 231.2, higher by Rs 7.6 (3.4%).