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VOL. 37 | NO. 31 | Friday, August 2, 2013
National Business
Oil falls with stocks; gasoline down vs. year ago
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell along with the stock market Tuesday. Meanwhile, the price of gasoline costs less than a year ago for the first time in more than two months.
Benchmark crude for September delivery fell $1.55 to $105 per barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Some media reports quoted members of the Federal Reserve saying the central bank may be close to reducing a bond-buying program that has kept long-term interest rates low and boosted investment in riskier assets like stocks and oil. Stock markets fell, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 99 points to 15,513. Lackluster earnings reports also hurt stocks.
At the pump, the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.61, down a penny from a year ago, AAA said. That last happened on June 1. AAA expects gas prices to stay flat or drop slightly, assuming no major hurricanes or refinery outages. Last August, gasoline prices rose 33 cents, partly because Hurricane Isaac disrupted refinery operations on the Gulf Coast.
Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange in London, fell 81 cents to $107.89 per barrel.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:
— Heating oil fell 5 cents to $3.00 a gallon.
— Natural gas rose 1 cent to $3.33 per 1,000 cubic feet.
— Wholesale gasoline fell 4 cents to $2.91 a gallon.