WTI oil trading back at $98 after another sell off session

WTI oil futures open Thursday’s trading session back near $98 a barrel after a rare halt in oil trading in yesterday’s session triggered another sharp sell off in stocks and commodities across the board.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for June 2011 delivery was trading at $98.41 a barrel, 08.20 GMT this morning in electronic trading on the NYMEX. WTI oil futures for June delivery ended yesterday’s session down another big 5.5 percent at $98.21 a barrel.

Against the backdrop of extremely volatile commodity prices, a steep decline in gasoline futures Wednesday led CME Group Inc. (CME) to temporarily freeze activity in three of its most heavily traded contracts on the NYMEX.

Just after 12.00 EDT, trading in crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures was halted for five minutes after gasoline fell to its daily 25 cent price limit, which triggered circuit breakers on the exchange’s trading platform.

“The commodities complex as a whole works together and a lot of times traders who hold oil and gas are also trading in gold and silver. The bulls don’t want to repeat what happened last week.” said Bob Haberkorn, a senior market strategist with Lind Waldock.

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WTI oil trading back at $98 after another sell off session