NYMEX May RBOB futures dropped 4.86 cents to settle at $3.1541/gal on Thursday in mixed trading that also saw NYMEX May crude futures settle down 40 cents to $102.27/barrel.
ICE Brent June futures were nearly flat, settling down 3 cents at $118.00/b. Positive news out of Europe with Spain's bond auction going according to plan helped to stem declines this week in ICE June Brent futures, which reached a daily high Thursday of $119.15/b.
May heating oil futures rose 69 points to settle at $3.1251/gal.
According to analysts, the decline in RBOB futures was led by a large selloff of long positions that have built up over the past few months. Traders were unwinding positions after an "exuberant run-up" in gasoline prices over the past few months, according to Matt Smith of Summit Energy Services.
John Kilduff of Again Capital attributed the decline in RBOB futures to the relationship between gasoline and bearish economic news released Thursday.
"Gasoline demand is tied to the health of the economy," said Kilduff, noting the 4% drop in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's General Business Conditions Index, as well as the US Department of Labor's unemployment figure "spiking up," according to Kilduff.
Jobless claims in the US dropped by 2,000, but were still well above the consensus reported by the Department of Labor ahead of the release.
