Crude Gains After Plunge: Oil Alert
NEW YORK (
) -- Oil futures were ticking higher Friday, following a two day selloff that saw the price of oil drop to its lowest point in months.
The November delivery contract for light, sweet crude was higher by 42 cents at $66.31 a barrel during electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But on Thursday, the contract settled at its lowest since the end of July at $65.89 after plunging $3.08. Last week, the then-front month contract traded above $72.
Midweek reports of increasing crude and product stockpiles boosted the selloff frenzy. Meanwhile, the dollar gained strength on Thursday, triggered by a disconcerting morning home sales report that sent investors fleeing from higher yields.
Elsewhere, most of the major oil shares finished Thursday's trading session in the red.
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Report
lost 7 cents to close at $68.93.
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Report
and
ConocoPhillips
(COP) - Get Report
lost 0.9% and 1.7% each.
Marathon Oil
(MRO) - Get Report
bid lower by 65 cents at $32.03 by the closing bell and
Murphy Oil
(MUR) - Get Report
was down $1.83 at $58.03.
Overseas-based operations didn't fare better, as American depositary shares for
BP
(BP) - Get Report
and
Royal Dutch Shell
(RDS.A)
slid 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively. However, both were moving slightly higher in premarket trading on Friday.
-- Written by Sung Moss in New York
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