Natural-gas futures ebb lower as boost from supplies data fizzles
By Claudia Assis and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures on Thursday erased earlier losses and pushed past $90 a barrel, gaining after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowed to save the euro and as U.S. markets greeted positive macroeconomic data.
Crude for September delivery CLU2 +0.51% added 86 cents, or 1%, to $89.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending its winning streak to a third session.
The contract traded as high as $90.47 a barrel, and as low as $88.07 a barrel.
Thursday’s boost came as Draghi, at an investment conference in London, reiterated his commitment to keep the euro alive. “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough,” he said, according to media reports.
Crude futures advanced 47 cents on Wednesday, settling at $88.97 a barrel and sealing a two-session advance of nearly 1%. Read more on Wednesday's oil move.
Cheaper dollar helps
Also factoring into the trading in crude, the euro soared on Draghi’s comments, with the U.S. dollar dropping against most rivals. The dollar index DXY -0.89% fell to 82.717 from 83.573 late Wednesday. A weaker greenback’s a positive for oil and other dollar-denominated commodities as it makes them cheaper for holders of other currencies.
On the data front, the Commerce Department said orders of big-ticket items rose 1.6% in June. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected U.S. durable-goods orders to rise 0.6% on the month. Read more about durable-goods data
Also, first-time jobless claims fell to a four-year low, the Labor Department said. They sank by 25,000 to 353,000 in the week ended July 21, its largest one-week decline of the year. See more about jobless claims.
Among other energy futures, August gasoline RBQ2 +1.09% rose 4 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.83 a gallon. August heating oil HOQ2 +0.80% added 3 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.88 a gallon.
However, August natural gas NGQ12 -0.13% turned lower, recently down less than 1 cent to $3.06 per million British thermal units.
The Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 26 billion cubic feet in storages of the product for the week ended July 20.
Gas futures at first shaved gains, but in short order added to the advance. The boost from the report, however, was ultimately short-lived as the increase was in the high end of the range that market participants had expected.
Analysts polled by Platts had forecast a rise of between 23 billion and 27 billion cubic feet for the week.
That contrasted with 48 billion cubic feet in the comparable week in 2011 and a five-year average of 61 billion cubic feet.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London. Sarah Turner in Sydney contributed to this report.
