NYMEX crude off ahead of long uS holiday weekend

摘要

New York-The New York Mercantile Exchange March crude oil futures contract settled 16 cents lower at $86.20/b Februa 18, erasing earlier gains as a short-coverin rally faded ahead of the long US holiday weekend. "The market tried to shake out of a recent range [between $85/b-$88/b] but the short-covering rally stalled and the mar ket fell back near the unchanged level by the close," said analyst Gene McGillian of Tradition Energy. "Crude futures are steer- ing farther away from last month's two-year high as the market focuses more on US eco-nomic news."