NYMEX crude off record high in pre-holiday trade
July 3rd, 2008 | by admin |* Dollar extends gains on jobs data, ECB remarks
* Focus on Morgan Stanley call for $150 oil, issued June 6
* Tropical Storm Bertha forms in far eastern Atlantic
NEW YORK, July 3 (Reuters) - U.S. oil futures pared gains sharply atmidmorning Thursday after hitting a record above $145 a barrel in earlydealings as the dollar rose further against the euro.
Trading volumes were thin, exaggerating price moves, a day before theNew York Mercantile Exchange takes a one-day break to mark the U.S.Independence Day holiday, traders said.
Heating oil and gasoline futures were also trading well below recordhighs hit in the early going.
On NYMEX at 11:05 a.m. EDT (1505 GMT), August crude CLQ8 was up $1.00or 0.7 percent at $144.57 a barrel, trading from $143.34 to a record$145.85.
“It’s pre-holiday trading, with long liquidations here and there,” aNYMEX trader said.
Moves to the downside appeared capped after the U.S. National HurricaneCenter reported that Tropical Storm Bertha formed Thursday in the fareastern Atlantic Ocean near the Cape Verde Islands. [IS:nN03484974]
