U.S. oil prices rallied Thursday, but still finished the month of August with a loss of more than 6%, as gasoline futures soared to levels not seen in more than two years. Traders mulled the impact of refinery outages on gasoline supplies in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, as well as the U.S. Energy Department’s release of a total of 1 million barrels a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help alleviate any shortages of the fuel. October West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.27, or 2.8%, to settle at $47.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September gasoline rose 25.5 cents, or 13.5%, to end at $2.140 a gallon on its expiration day–with the contract up about 28% for the month. October gasoline rose 14.2 cents, or 5.7%, to $1.779 a gallon.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News