High early, crude prices fall near close

Crude oil prices were up early Thursday, but by about half an hour before the close of floor trade in New York, West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery had dropped 16 cents below Wednesday’s close to trade at $56.18 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

At the same time, Nymex June gasoline futures were up 2 cents to $1.65 per gallon, while according to AAA the retail price for gasoline in the US was up over 3 cents overnight to $2.11 per gallon on average across the country.

It was the second day in a row that at-the-pump prices had gained 3 cents.

In afternoon trade, Nymex June heating oil was up less than a cent to $1.47 per gallon, while June natural gas was up 12 cents to $4.01 per million British thermal units.

The early gains for crude prices came on hopes that demand will rise for oil and oil products and on positive sales reports for April from the retail sector that built optimism that the economy is beginning to recover.

However, investors were also waiting for the official results of government “stress tests” on US banks even though some data from the report had been leaked before they were scheduled to be released Thursday afternoon.

Prices for Brent crude were also lower, dropping 47 cents to $55.68 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.