Natural gas adds to losses after higher-than-expected supply rise
By Claudia Assis and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil prices bounced off a seven-week low Thursday as lower prices enticed investors back to the market.
Crude oil for May delivery CLK2 +1.34% advanced $1.38 cents, or 1.4%, to $102.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices fell $2.54 in the previous session, joining a global selloff in the equity and commodity markets in the wake of the release of U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes and a flare-up in euro-zone debt concerns.
Wednesday’s drop also came after the Energy Information Administration reported crude stockpiles rose by 9 million barrels — nearly five times the increase analysts had expected in a Platts poll.
Crude-oil futures have lost 4.2% over the past month. They have gained about 3.5% year-to-date.
Natural-gas futures, meanwhile, added to losses after an inventories report showed a larger-than-expected increase.
The Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 42 billion cubic feet in supplies of natural gas for the week ended March 30.
That compares to analyst expectations of an increase between 33 to 37 bcf, according to a Platts survey.
May natural gas NGK12 -1.31% fell 2 cents, or 1%, to $2.12 per million British thermal units. It had traded at $2.14 per million Btus before the data.
There was plenty of negative news for energy traders to navigate on Thursday, starting with a rising dollar.
The dollar index DXY +0.37% , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded at 80.106, up from 79.764 late in North American trade Wednesday and as the euro weakened amid renewed euro-zone debt worries. Read Currencies report.
A stronger U.S. currency is a negative for dollar-denominated commodities as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Borrowing costs for French debt and rising Spanish and Italian bond yields kept fears of a euro-zone debacle alive. Also worrying investors, data showed manufacturing production falling by 1% in the U.K. and the Bank of England made no adjustments to its bond-buying program, keeping interest rates on hold as expected by markets.
U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.05% off 48 points to 13,030.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, the May gasoline RBK2 -0.14% declined 1 cent, or 0.3%, to $3.32 a gallon. May heating oil HOK2 +0.24% turned higher, however, up less than 1 cent to $3.16 per gallon.
