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(CEP News) - The final settlement price for crude oil in floor trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday was a record high of $145.29 a barrel.
Electronic trading will continue through Friday despite the U.S. holiday but traders were likely wary of going into a long weekend short on oil with the potential for new developments in the war of words between Israel and Iran. The U.S. National Hurricane Center is also tracking tropical storm Bertha off the coast of Africa. It is expected to weaken as it tracks northwards into the cooler waters of the mid-Atlantic. At 3:57 p.m. EDT, WTI Crude oil was up $1.69 to $145.26 per barrel while ICE crude oil is trading up $1.82 to $146.08. Other markets have grown increasingly sensitive to oil price moves as high gasoline prices strain the U.S. consumer. Economists at Nomura revised down their U.S. growth forecasts to an average of 1.7% over the next six quarters, down from 2.4%. On inflation, Nomura now expects an average headline CPI of 4.0% over the next six quarters with a peak of 6.3% in Q32008. The prior inflation estimate was 2.9%. "Record high oil prices now seem likely to counteract most of the temporary boost to growth from the fiscal stimulus checks," wrote David Resler, Nomura's chief economist. Other parts of the energy complex were also strong. ICE RBOB gasoline futures are up $0.61 to $355.55 and Henry Hub natural gas is up $0.210 to $13.599 mmbtu. Heating oil at the ICE is up $2.62 to $409.77. In the mining sector, CBOT gold is trading down $11.60 to $934.30 USD. In Canadian dollars, gold is down $5.85 to C$951.02. Silver contracts at the CBOT are down $0.09 to $18.33. Bloomberg's index for base metals is down 6.81 points to 250.70. Wheat futures at the CBOT are up $7.25 to $887.50. The Dow Jones/AIG Commodities index lost 0.16 points to 237.80. By Adam Button,
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