Heating Oil Price Trend for March 8: +3¢
A slight improvement in job loss numbers boosted oil prices today. (image: seekingalpha.com and Nicholas Whitaker via heatingoil.com)
February jobs numbers in the US came out better than expected, as the economy lost fewer jobs than analysts had anticipated. The jobs report encouraged oil traders that the economy was improving, and oil prices rose sharply on Friday morning. The morning’s price spike for heating oil led to a midday price increase of 4 cents, but the market moderated as the day progressed and heating oil prices ended only 3 cents higher than they began on Friday, 1 cent down from their midday peak.
Today’s average retail heating oil price in the Northeast is 3 cents higher than Friday’s average price.
Traders’ Error in Elementary Geography Pushed Up Oil Prices in February | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] oil markets, perception is everything. Just last week, a marginally positive US employment report caused a spike in crude oil prices that drove up gasoline and heating oil prices. If the business media is to be believed, oil traders perceived the jobs data as a sign that the US [...]