Crude oil continued its strong upward trend Thursday, as it finished above $80/ barrel for the first time ever. The October crude contract finished the day session at $80.09, slightly under the intraday high of $80.20. "After the markets' formidable display this week, it is clear that prices are reacting more to supply concerns, both perceived and real," said Edward Meir, analyst at MF Global. "The impact of weaker demand has yet to manifest itself given the lags associated with this variable." Overnight, a storm named Humberto grew strength and hit Texas as a Category 1 hurricane. Damages were not serious; three refineries were shut down in Port Arthur, Texas and ships were not able to enter or leave the Houston Shipping Channel for a short time, according to Platts, an information service for the energy sector. XLE, an energy sector ETF, was up 0.63% to $72.30 at the close on Thursday.
Sources: TheStreet.com, MarketWatch
Commentary: Oil Prices Climb to New Record High • Crude's New High a Result of Dollar Weakness
Stocks/ETFs to watch: XLE
Related: Select Sector SPDRs
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