Market Close: Sep 26 Mixed Crude/ULSD Up, Gas Down
Sep 26th, 2014 by loren
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NY Harbor ULSD $2.7005 UP $0.0047
Crude-oil futures advanced Friday, with market participants suggesting that weak oil prices appear to have largely stabilized. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November rose 33 cents, or 0.4%, to $92.86 a barrel, and the U.S. benchmark was on pace for a weekly gain of 1.3%. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange advanced by 14 cents, or 0.1%, to $97.14 a barrel, but the European benchmark was on track for a weekly drop of 1.3%.
An increase in Libyan oil production was still seen as weighing on prices. But this increase is expected to be offset by strong West African crude flows out of the region to Asia, where oil refiners are ramping up crude purchases ahead of the peak winter season, Michael Wittner, head of oil research at Societe Generale said in a report. He said oil market fundamentals are not bullish, but are also not getting any worse, so prices appear to be stabilizing. “In addition, there is a fairly strong behavioral pattern of Chinese refiners buying on the dips to take advantage of price weakness, whether to process the crude, or use it to build strategic or commercial stocks,” Wittner said.
The U.S. and its allies continue to conduct airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria but their intensity may level off as the U.S.-led military campaign drags on, officials said. Iran’s cooperation with the West against Islamic State could ramp up if talks over its nuclear program are successful, its President Hasan Rouhani said at the United Nations meeting in New York on Thursday.
In U.S. economic news on Friday, the Commerce Department said the economy grew at a 4.6% annual pace in the second quarter, revising its estimate up from 4.2%. Economists polled by MarketWatch had predicted GDP would be revised up to a seasonally adjusted 4.7%. Traders are also keeping an eye out for a fresh reading on consumer sentiment due at 9:55 a.m. Eastern Friday.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blend stock for October the benchmark gasoline contract — fell 4 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.68 a gallon.