Crude rises again

Prices pare early losses as Libyan crisis deteriorates

Oil prices ended shot up once again and ended higher on Tuesday, 22 March 2011 at Nymex. The Middle East and North Africa crisis and Japan's earthquake has pushed up both crude prices in recent times. Traders continued to monitor the developments closely for the entire day.

On Tuesday, crude oil futures for light sweet crude for April delivery closed higher by $1.67 (1.6%) at $104/barrel. During intra day trading, prices fell modestly lower. Last week, prices closed lower by a mere 0.1%.



Crude prices gained 5.2% in February 2011 after gaining 0.9% in January.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, weakened. The dollar index slipped by 0.2%. The U.S. dollar turned up against the euro Tuesday following speculation that Ireland was having trouble paying off its debt, bringing the sovereign-debt worries in the region back to the forefront.

The conflict in Libya continued to dominate the headlines, with unrest in Yemen and Syria also vying for investors' attention and adding to concerns that more strife could hit the Middle East and North Africa region, home to key oil exporters.

In economic news, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. housing prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in January. Data for December were also revised down to a 1.0% drop from an originally reported decline of 0.3%.

Among other energy products on Tuesday, gasoline for April delivery added 1 cent to settle at $3 a gallon. Heating oil also for April delivery rose 2 cents to $3.08 a gallon.

Natural gas for April delivery gained 9 cents, or 2.2%, to $4.25 per million British thermal units.

At the MCX, crude oil for April closed higher by Rs 53 (1.1%) at Rs 4,718/barrel. Natural gas for March delivery closed higher by Rs 2.3 (1.2%) at Rs 189.9.