Gasoline and Oil Market Update

 Gasoline for January delivery NGF15, +1.05% fell 3.5 cents, or 2.3%, to end at $1.54 a gallon on Nymex. That was gasoline’s lowest settlement since May 1, 2009.

January heating oil HOF5, -0.63%  lost 4.2 cents, or 2.1%, to finish at $1.9600 a gallon. January natural gas NGF15, +1.05%  fell 10 cents, or 2.7%, to end at $3.6190 per million British thermal units.

U.S. stocks wrap wild trading day sharply lower

The U.S. stock market suffered some of its most violent price swings since mid-October on Tuesday, as investors wrestled with volatility in oil and growing turmoil in Russia, exemplified by a spectacular decline of the ruble.

The S&P 500 SPX, -0.85%  ended at session lows, trading in a range of nearly 45 points. The benchmark index closed 16.89 points, or 0.9%, lower at 1,972.74. Energy-related stocks, which have been battered over the past several weeks, rose more than 1%, and industrials and telecoms also ended higher.

Forex Market Update

A surprise overnight policy-rate hike by the Central Bank of Russia did little to stanch the ruble’s steep losses against the dollar in Tuesday trading.
 The dollar USDJPY, +0.46%  traded at ¥116.58, from ¥117.73 late Monday in New York.

The euro EURJPY, +0.30% rose against the dollar after U.S. housing starts data for November missed the expectations of economists polled by MarketWatch, and a gauge of eurozone business activity improved modestly in December.

The shared currency EURUSD, -0.18%  was trading at $1.25, compared to $1.24 Monday.

The dollar gained against the krone USDNOK, +1.87% earlier in the session, only to surrender its gains and trade flat around 7.48 krone per dollar Tuesday afternoon.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.12%  , a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of six trade-weighted currencies, was down 0.64% to 87.8940.

The pound GBPUSD, -0.15%  climbed to $1.575, up from $1.56 on Monday, after data showed U.K. inflation fell to a 12-year low in November.

Oil touches new lows but ends turbulent session up 2 cents

New York-traded crude-oil futures limped across the finish line Tuesday closing up 2 cents, enough to snap a four-day losing streak but hardly inviting investors to think that significantly higher crude -oil prices are in the offing.

Trading in oil, as with many markets Tuesday, was characterized by jarring swings. Prices for oil futures trading on the New York Mercantile exchange made a sharp turnaround , briefly touching an all-low of $53.60 and latter hitting a high of $57.15 a barrel.

London’s Brent crude also pared its losses significantly. The choppy trading for oil was matched by similar volatility in gold, a haven play.

Gold dips under $1,200 ahead of Fed meeting

Gold prices lost ground Tuesday, erasing early gains that followed worldwide turbulence briefly triggered by hand-wringing over Russia’s rapidly tumbling ruble.

Gold for February delivery GCG5, +0.33%  settled down $13.40, or 1.1%, at $1,194.30 an ounce. The contract jumped above $1,220 early Tuesday as U.S. stocks slumped, but it then turned negative while equities pared their early losses.