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发表于 21-4-2009 10:06 AM
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APRIL 20, 2009, 3:25 P.M. ET
OIL FUTURES : Crude Plunges To 1-Mo Low On Doubts About Economy
By Brian Baskin
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude oil futures plunged Monday, as new concerns about the stability of the U.S. economy sparked a sell-off that reached most corners of the commodities and equities markets.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled down $4.45, or 8.8%, at $45.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract expires on Tuesday, and the more heavily traded June contract settled $4.18, or 8%, lower at $48.29 a barrel. June Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $3.49, or 6.5%, lower at $49.86 a barrel.
The biggest single-day decline for oil prices in dollar terms since Jan. 7 was sparked by fears that the U.S. economy was about to begin a new leg lower. Investors questioned a recent string of stronger-than-expected quarterly results from major banks and spent the day preparing for new instability in the financial sector.
Oil prices are now at their lowest level since mid-March, when the Federal Reserve said it would spend more than $1 trillion shoring up financial institutions by buying U.S. Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities.
But oil was just one of many commodities seeing heavy selling, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently off 3.4% at 7,854. Much of the buying shifted over to "safe haven" investments such as gold and the dollar, which are seen holding more of their value in a severe downturn. The dollar hit its strongest point against the euro since mid-March, recently trading at $1.2927, while gold prices also rose.
"What we're seeing here once again is a fear play," said Phil Flynn, an analyst with Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. "People are trying to protect themselves."
The oil market is now at a critical juncture, Flynn said, as futures have broken through the price floor at $47 a barrel created over the last month, when optimism about the U.S. economy began to push commodities and equities higher.
That belief in an approaching rebound had helped oil traders downplay the importance of a growing glut of crude. U.S. oil inventories recently hit their highest point since September 1990, and analysts anticipate another build this week. Data is due out from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
"There shouldn't be much demand for a May crude oil barrel, and I think that's being reflected in the crude oil price today," said Peter Donovan, vice president of Vantage Trading in New York.
Analysts gave an average forecast for 2.5-million-barrel build in oil inventories for the week ended April 17, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey. Both gasoline and distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel, are seen falling by 900,000 barrels, while refinery utilization is expected to rise 0.6 percentage point to 81% of capacity.
Front-month May reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, settled 8.08 cents, or 5.4%, lower at $1.4119 a gallon. May heating oil settled 9.09 cents, or 6.4%, lower at $1.3316 a gallon.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090420-712763.html
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