Futures Trading Rises Slightly, Oil Stock Prices Falling

Oil futures trading prices saw a slight increase, taking it right above $73 a barrel. Crude oil has been on the decline, losing almost 11.5 percent from $82 a barrel since the beginning of the month. It's become clear that the U.S. economy is slowing, suggesting the oil and gas demand will remain sluggish.

The rebound in the prices of crude was a result of natural gas prices falling. Some analysts said that there is a vast majority of traders who thought natural gas wouldn't go below $4 per cubic foot, and that crude oil would fall below $70 a barrel. As the gas started dropping below that level, traders started buying crude to avoid losses and cover their bets.

"Given the future prospects for economic recovery, the oil market is considered to have fallen to much, to fast. We are seeing some uptake in oil pricing, and the low 70's seem to be the near term bottom," said Victor Shum, energy analyst for Pervin & Gertz.

BP (NYSE:BP) UPDATE: Sealing Cap Installed, Trading Shares, Futures Trading

After much anticipation, BP (NYSE:BP) has verified that they have been successful in installing the sealing cap onto the leaking Macondo well in the Gulf. Testing is the next phase of the process. Over the next 48 hours the integrity test will be preformed. If successful, no oil will be released into the ocean.

BP stated that a sealing cap like what they have installed, has never before been used at such depths as a mile below the surface. It is unsure if the cap will be able to contain the oil and gas. Once all the information is gathered from the testing, it will get forwarded to different U.S. Government agencies for review.

They will than be able to determine "the way forward" which may include such options as continued testing beyond the 48 hours, or the reinstatement of prior containment. Everything is still up in the air, even though there's success of the placement of the sealing cap, it could end up being no better then the previous containment cap.

BP trading shares have seen an incline again today of 2.5 percent. This is caused by speculation of the continued negotiations to sell $10 billion worth of their Alaskan assets to Apache Corporation. It leaves one wondering though, if the cap is a failure will the futures trading see another massive decline ?

Futures Trading, Stock Prices: Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), BP (NYSE:BP)

BP (NYSE:BP) shares rose 2.8 percent, as well as Exxon Mobil's (NYSE:XOM) shares rising 0.37 percent. This stock price increase is believed to be because of BP's success in their recent fuel oil containment attempt. BP says that the cap that was put onto the leaking pipe, continues to capture the spewing oil and they're expecting to increase the amount collected as the week progresses. In energy trading, oil futures were down to $71.46 a barrel, a 5 cent loss.

As of 10:08 AM in New York trading, the Standard & Poors 500 index saw an increase of 0.4 percent to 1,068.68. This was after a drop in futures trading declined as much as 1.3 percent before the opening of the U.S. stock exchange. This was after S&P 500 saw a 3.4 percent drop on June 4th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures saw an increase of 13 points, to 9959.00. The Nasdaq 100 futures rose to 1839.50, seeing an increase of 5.25 points.

Stanley Nabi, Vice Chairman of the New York based Silvercrest Asset Management group, in charge of managing $9 billion said, "I still see a choppy stock market of small gains and losses. We see some buying today after all, how much can you keep on beating the market ? Investors just need to have more conviction. But that's probably not going to happen until we see strong second quarter earnings."