U.S. crude oil futures ended
lower on Friday as the dollar's rebound directed investment
flow away from commodities, at least for the moment, and as
traders took pre-weekend profits, snapping a three-day rally.
"The petroleum markets are seeing at least a light round of
Friday profit-taking, encouraged by an upturn in the U.S.
dollar," said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures
Perspective in New York.
Oil traders also took a cue from Wall Street, where the
Dow, the S&P and the Nasdaq indexes were down most of the day,
with losses in the energy and materials sector. [.N]
Technical analysts noted that front-month July crude had
become extremely overbought, but the current bull trend would
not be damaged unless prices closed below $70 a barrel.
Crude oil futures hit $73 on Thursday, reaching the highest
intraday price since late October, on a weak dollar, supportive
U.S. economic data and an improved 2009 demand forecast from
the International Energy Agency in Paris.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Energy Information
Administration also raised its demand forecast for this year.
"The crude market took a breather from the frantic rally
we've just seen (but) losses were trimmed near the close on
some (pre-weekend) short-covering," said Mike Fitzpatrick, vice
president at MF Global in New York.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a
monthly report on Friday, cut its forecast for world oil demand
further, but said the worst appeared to be over for the market.
[ID:nLC440564]
OPEC said demand this year would contract by 1.62 million
barrels per day. It previously expected a decline of 1.57
million bpd.
TECHNICALS
NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $69.02/$65.14
Technical support/resistance:
NYMEX crude: $70.00/$73.00
NYMEX heating oil: $1.8050/$1.8700
NYMEX RBOB: $2.0000/$2.2000
For a report on technicals click [ID:nLC632870]
PRICES
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude CLN9
settled down 64 cents, or 0.88 percent, at $72.04 a barrel,
trading from $70.80 to $72.63. It settled on Thursday at
$72.68, the highest close since Oct. 20's $74.25, after hitting
an intraday high of $73.23, highest since Oct. 21's $75.69.
* For the week, July crude rose $3.60, or 5.26 percent.
* In London, July Brent crude LCON9 ended down 87 cents,
or 1.21 percent, at $70.92 a barrel, trading from $69.99 to
$71.64. It settled on Thursday at $71.79, the highest
settlement since Oct. 20's $72.03, after climbing to an
intraday high of $72.27, the highest since Oct. 21's $73.29.
* NYMEX July RBOB RBN9 settled down 2.18 cents, or 1.06
percent, at $2.0431 a gallon, trading from $2.0192 to $2.0636.
It settled on Thursday at $2.0649, the highest close since Oct.
3's $2.2283, after surging to an intraday high of $2.0763, the
the highest since Oct. 7's $2.1399.
* NYMEX July heating oil HON9 finished down 1.59 cents,
or 0.86 percent, at $1.8375 a gallon, trading from $1.8125 to
$1.8517. On Thursday, it settled at $1.8534, the highest since
Nov. 13's $1.8750, after rising to an intraday high of $1.8706,
the highest since Nov. 17's $1.8906.
* The July/July RBOB crack spread <0#rb-cl=r> ended at
$13.77, dropping from $14.05 on Thursday. The July/July heating
oil crack spread <0#cl-ho=r> ended at $5.14, edging down from
$5.16 close on Thursday.
* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 ended at $14.18,
widening from $14.02 on Thursday. The July 2014 contract
settled on Friday at $86.22, down 47 cents, or 0.54 percent.
MARKET NEWS
* The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers'
preliminary June consumer sentiment index rose to 69.0, a
nine-month high, from May's final reading of 68.7, according to
a report released on Friday. [ID:nN12149350]
* The dollar rose, rebounding from vicious selling earlier
this week, while data showing a plunge in euro-zone industrial
production highlighted economic weakness in the region and
pushed the euro lower. [USD/]
* China's refinery output jumped to a record high in May as
refiners, encouraged by higher fuel prices and decent margins,
stepped up supplies to meet rising demand.
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