May 10, 2011
Oil settles higher
NEW YORK, United States — Oil rose yeterday after some early losses as investors tried to gauge where the market is headed.
Benchmark crude rose US$1.33 to settle, or 1.3 per cent, at US$103.88 per barrel on the Nymex. The June contract plummeted by 15 percent last week before rebounding by more than five per cent on Monday.
Energy trader Stephen Schork said nobody’s confident about their positions after oil prices tumbled last week by the largest percentage in two and a half years. The CME Group, which owns the New York Mercantile Exchange, also raised margin requirements this week, making it more expensive to speculate in energy commodities.
“Everyone’s just tightening the reins here” on oil trades, Schork said.