Crude Oil Futures Advance, Tracking Refinery Products
May 18, 2011
Crude-oil futures prices settled higher Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, tracking gains in nearby refinery products. October crude settled at $23.44 a barrel, up 20 cents, after peaking at $23.52 late in the session. Much of the buying was done by small speculators and locals, traders said, and was aided by the draws in crude stocks in the weekly inventory reports. The American Petroleum Institute weekly report showed a draw of 5.675 million barrels, while the Department of Energy put the draw at 5 million barrels. Traders had called for a draw of about 1 million barrels. October gasoline was the strongest member of the complex for most of the day, settling at 64.41 cents a gallon, up 1.45 cents, helped by the draws in stock levels and brisk speculative fund buying, according to traders. October heating oil rose 0.82 cent to 65.03 cents a gallon. The market continued to closely watch the news from Iraq, though traders said prices were sliding off the ''political premium'' achieved earlier this week during the U.S. missile attacks on military targets in the southern part of the country. In other commodity markets: GRAINS AND SOYBEANS: Soybean futures prices finished sharply higher Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade amid signs of increased demand and continued dry Midwestern weather. Corn futures also rose, while wheat retreated. Soybeans reversed sharp losses of a day earlier on rumors that China bought 50,000 tons of South American soybean meal and the Philippines bought 15,000 tons of U.S. soybean meal, said Geralyn Dimas, vice president of grains trading at E.D.& F. Man International. The purchases, if confirmed, signal renewed demand for soy products. Prices had risen earlier in the session after forecasters indicated rains from Hurricane Fran likely will fall farther east than previously expected. Dry fields in Indiana and Ohio will need significant rainfall in coming days following a drier-than-normal August. The dry forecasts boosted corn. Wheat retreated under pressure from active harvesting of the spring crop and a lack of export interest. Soybeans for November delivery rose 15.5 cents to $7.9575 a bushel; December wheat fell 1.25 cents to $4.46 a bushel; December corn rose 1.25 cents to $3.3475 a bushel. PRECIOUS METALS: Precious metals fell Thursday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, as the gold market's non-reaction to U.S. attacks on Iraq and to Russian President Crabb's planned surgery caused some sellers to conclude that gold is technically weak, said Williemae O'Mccorkle, futures strategist with Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York. Gold for December delivery fell 10 cents to $389.60 an ounce. December silver lost 3.7 cents to $5.19 an ounce.
