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New York Crude Ends Up at $59 a Barrel

Posted on: Monday, 25 July 2005, 18:01 CDT

NEW YORK - Crude-oil futures settled up Monday at $59 a barrel, recouping losses of about a dollar on the back of sharp gains in heating oil futures.

Expectations of a drawdown in U.S. commercial crude inventories for the fourth straight week, reflecting supply disruptions from storms in the Gulf of Mexico, also lent support.

Benchmark light, sweet crude oil for September rose 35 cents to settle at $59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Heating oil for August settled at $1.6066 a gallon, up 2.47 cents, as speculators like commodity funds assessed them as undervalued compared with crude and gasoline futures. Last week, heating oil was seen as the energy complex's weakest link.

"The gains in crude seem to be driven on the products side today by heating oil," said Bill O'Grady, an analyst in St. Louis for A.G. Edwards, which provides energy brokerage services.

Crude's turn higher after posting sharp losses early Monday and hefty gains Friday appeared to indicate a large degree of uncertainty in the market. Few market participants could nail down clear reasons for any of the moves.

"This recovery is a little surprising," O'Grady said. "I'm a little mystified as to the strength in crude."

The volatility drove many traders to the sidelines Monday, as traders attempted to discern which way the market might head next.

"Some people say we're going down to $50 a barrel, some people say we're going up to $65," said Michael Guido, director of commodity strategy in New York for Societe General. "There's a lot of risk-reward on either side of the market, and so we're getting a lot of big price swings."

Nymex gasoline settled down 2.16 cents at $1.7064 a gallon.

August natural gas fell 10.0 cents to close at $7.270 per million British thermal units.

Spot gold in New York rose 90 cents, to $425.30 an ounce. August gold settled at $425.90 an ounce, up 90 cents, while September silver settled at $7.140 an ounce, up 2.5 cents.

The September copper contract settled up 1.45 cents at $1.6180 per pound on the Nymex. December copper rose 1.95 cents to $1.5435 a pound.

Arabica coffee futures bounced on the New York Board of Trade on Monday, erasing early losses and reaching a one-week high after industry and speculators bought and shorts rushed to cover.

The September contract settled up 2.65 cents at $1.0210 a pound and December closed up 2.55 cents at $1.0640 a pound.

News of weekend violence in Ivory Coast provided the initial lift for cocoa futures and sparked buying that took prices to three-session intraday highs.

Most-active Nybot September cocoa futures settled $13 higher at $1,420 a metric ton and December was up $13 at $1,451 a ton.

World raw sugar for October closed up 0.20 cent at 9.90 cents a pound.

Chicago Board of Trade September corn declined 3 cents to $2.3050 per bushel, and March lost 4 cents to $2.4775 a bushel.

August soybeans ended 0.50 cent higher at $6.6975 a bushel.

September wheat settled 4.75 cents lower at $3.2575 per bushel.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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