NYMEX-Crude ends down as dollar up, products dip

 NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended
lower on Friday, pressured by a stronger dollar and as refined
product futures fell after gaining for two days.

 "After being up for much of the week the market took a
slight breather today and the dollar was able to show some
strength," said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity
Futures Inc.

 The dollar rebounded from a one-year low against the euro
as waning risk apetite cut demand for higher-yielding
currencies and raised demand for the greenback. [USD/]

 Heating oil and gasoline futures buckled down under the
weight of slack demand and after inventory reports earlier this
week showed that product inventories rose last week.

 In the past two days, refined product futures exhibited
strength as traders focused on autumn refinery maintenance that
could curb heating oil and gasoline production.

 Support from equities waned, though oil traders were
watching closely and even as Wall Street rose after some
brokerage upgrades. [.N]

 "The financial backdrop, with rising equity markets and
concerns about the U.S. dollar, continues to dominate the
day-to-day price swings," said Tim Evans, energy analyst at
Citi Futures Perspective.

 "At the same time, though, we note that the underlying
fundamentals are telling a different story, with elevated
inventories (especially in the distillates markets) and OPEC
responding to the rising price this year by slowly increasing
output...," Evans noted.

 PRICES

 * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, October crude CLV9
settled down 43 cents, or 0.59 percent, to $72.04 a barrel,
trading from $71.27 to $72.66. For the week, the contract
gained $2.75, or 3.97 percent.

 * In London, November Brent crude LCOX9 setled down 23
cents, or 0.32 percent, at $71.32 a barrel, trading from $70.51
to $71.79.

 * NYMEX October RBOB RBV9 ended down 1.88 cents, or 1.02
percent, at $1.8324 a gallon, trading from $1.8220 to $1.8534.

 * NYMEX October heating oil HOV9 finished 1.30 cents
lower, or 0.71 percent, at $1.8279 a gallon, trading from
$1.8178 to $1.8484.

 * The October/October RBOB crack spread <0#rb-cl=r> ended
at $4.92, down from $5.28 on Thursday. The October/October
heating oil crack spread <0#cl-ho=r> ended at $4.73, dipping
from $4.85 on Thursday.

 * The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 ended at $13.26,
widening from $12.91 on Thursday. The October 2014 contract
settled on Friday at $85.30, down 8 cents, or 0.09 percent.

 TECHNICALS

 NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $70.83/$70.96

 Technical support/resistance:

 NYMEX crude: $70.00/$75.00

 NYMEX heating oil: $1.7856/$1.85

 NYMEX RBOB: $1.82/$1.90

 For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nLI684769]
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