Written on: December 2, 2025
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Petroleum futures are trading south of the unchanged mark as of this writing on Tuesday morning despite gains in European shares and flat-to-higher trade in US stock market index futures. With a quiet day ahead of the economic calendar, market participants must look elsewhere for further direction.
Asian stock markets closed mixed overnight with China’s Shanghai Composite losing 0.42%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.24%. Meanwhile, the Nikkei in Japan closed virtually unchanged. In European economic news this morning, the flash Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the Eurozone showed a 2.2% yearly increase in consumer prices last month, just above the 2.1% Bloomberg survey consensus. Narrow core prices are seen up 2.4% year-on-year in November, as expected. The unemployment rate in the Eurozone came in at 6.4% in October, slightly above forecasts at 6.3%. The French CAC 40 had edged up 0.25% this morning, the UK FTSE 100 had added 0.29%, and the German DAX had jumped 0.59% higher. In the US, futures for the major stock market indexes were trading flat-to-higher as Dow futures were up 0.10%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.24% and Nasdaq futures rose 0.38%. The US dollar index was flat as of this writing.
The energy complex settled mixed about the unchanged mark yesterday with lower trade in global equities likely weighing on the price action, while news of an attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the Black Sea was supportive. Brent crude settled just 3 cents weaker at $63.17 a barrel, whereas WTI crude rose by 77 cents to $59.32 a barrel. On the product end of the barrel, gasoline futures dropped 2.70 cents lower to $1.8689 per gallon, while heating oil futures added 70 points to reach a $2.3400 per gallon settlement. Propane prices rallied yesterday as Mt. Belvieu TET prices gained 2.69 cents, averaging 68.94 c/g and natural gas futures strengthened by 7.1 cents to $4.921 per MMBTU.
As of this morning, the latest 1-5 day weather outlook continues to see mostly below-normal temperature persisting throughout the eastern two-thirds of the country. The forecast over the next 6-10 days also calls for below-normal temperatures in the Midwest and New England, with near- to above-normal temperatures seen elsewhere.