Crude prices stay steady

Somber dollar and supply disruptions at France keep crude prices on higher side

Crude oil prices ended higher on Monday, 25 October 2010 at Nymex. Somber dollar and supply disruptions at France kept crude and crude product prices steady for the day.



On Monday, crude oil futures for light sweet crude for December delivery closed at $82.52/barrel (higher by $0.83 or 1%). During intra day trading, it reached a high of $83.37. Last week, crude ended lower by 0.3%, its third consecutive weekly losses.

For the month of September, crude prices ended higher by 11.2%. For the third quarter, crude ended higher by 5.7%. Crude had ended second quarter of CY 2010 lower by 9.3%. For the first quarter of this year, crude rose by 5.5%. Year to date, crude is higher by 10%.

In the currency market on Monday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by almost 0.36%.

The National Association of Realtors reported on Monday, 25 October 2010 that sales of existing homes climbed 10% in September, with a drop in prices helping transactions increase for a second straight month. The report showed that sales rose 10% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million, from a downwardly revised 4.12 million in August. Market had expected a smaller gain, to 4.39 million.

Among other energy products on Monday, gasoline for November delivery added 1 cent, or 0.7%, to $2.08 a gallon.

Also on Monday, natural gas for November delivery retreated 2 cents, or 0.4%, to $3.32 per million British thermal units. That is natural gas' lowest since mid-September 2009.

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 November closed lower by Rs 9 (0.24%) at Rs 3,661/barrel. Natural gas for October delivery closed at Rs 147.3, higher by Rs 0.1 (0.06%).