MW: Oil trades lower as markets brace for Bernanke
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures traded lower Friday as investors awaited to hear from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and scour his speech for any hints of further stimulus to prop up the U.S. economy and, by extension, ramp up oil demand.
Crude for October delivery CL1V -1.21% lost $1.16, or 1.4%, to $84.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Investors were losing heart any additional steps to help the economy were forthcoming. Bernanke will speak at a yearly gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo. He signaled the second round of the Fed’s asset-buying program at last year’s meeting.
Oil prices also reacted to weak European stocks and indications of a similarly tense, downbeat day for U.S. equities, which opened lower Friday.
The combination of skepticism about any stimulus and lower equities also pulled down energy products, which had gotten a lift from fears of Hurricane Irene disrupting East Coast refineries, even as the hurricane will miss the Gulf Coast area, the heart of the refining and oil production. Read more about Irene.
Gasoline for September delivery RB1U -1.21% lost 4 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.93 a gallon.
Irene is expected to make landfall Saturday and the governors of New Jersey and New York have declared a state of emergency. Refiners on Irene’s path include those owned by ConocoPhillips COP -1.17% , PBF Holdings, and Sonoco Inc. SUN -1.16%
