Crude Oil
The survey covers the period ended April 18 and is based on information obtained at about 2,500 filling stations by the Camarillo, California-based company. Prices are the highest since March 22, 2013. The average is 15.55 cents higher than a year ago, Lundberg said. Gasoline has risen 39.74 cents a gallon since bottoming out in February and is up 43 cents this year. “The most important factor right now in this rise is crude oil, If crude prices climb even higher, then this may not be the peak.” Inventories of the motor fuel fell 154,000 barrels in the week ended April 11 to 210.3 million, the lowest since Nov. 15, according to Energy Information Administration data. Supplies were down 9.9 percent in eight weeks of contractions as refiners performed seasonal maintenance and sold off stocks of winter-grade gasoline. Crude inventories climbed 10 million barrels to 394.1 million in the week to April 11, the highest since June, according to EIA data.
Gold
The net-long position contracted to the lowest since mid-February as speculators sold bullion on signs of accelerating U.S. economic growth. The investors more than doubled bets on lower prices in the past month while reducing wagers on a rally in six of the past seven weeks. Prices fell 7.1 percent since reaching a six-month high in March after tension in Ukraine eased and U.S. equities rallied to a record. The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance payments held last week near the lowest level in almost seven years and retail sales in March increased more than economists forecast. Bullion plunged 28 percent in 2013 as some investors lost their faith in the metal as a store of value. It is very difficult for gold to sustain the panic that makes it a good safe-haven trade,” said Frances Hudson, a strategist at Standard Life in Edinburgh, which oversees $294 billion of assets. “I see demand for gold remaining non-enthusiastic. Things are looking better in the U.S. and Europe. It’s not that both these economies are racing ahead, but they are gradually improving.” Gold rose to 1300 then fell to 1285.
