Gas prices are back on the rise - Here's why

TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Friday, February 16.

Full Video Transcript Below:

J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks were in the red to close out today's session. The Dow closed down 145 points, the Nasdaq closed down eight tenths of a percent, and the S&P closed four tenths of a percent lower, breaking its five-week winning streak. Investors are digesting a slew of economic data this week. Both consumer and wholesale prices rose in the month of January, stoking fears that the Fed may hold off on interest rate cuts until the second half of 2024.

Investors are looking ahead to a lighter week on Wall Street with the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes out Wednesday, and earnings from names like Walmart, eBay, Home Depot, Etsy, and several others.

In other news - cheap gas was nice while it lasted. Over the past week alone, the national average price for regular gas climbed by 11 cents to $3.28 a gallon - the highest price we’ve seen in about three months. And while the bump in price is not ideal, gas is 14 cents cheaper than it was at this time in 2023 and still a far cry from the record high of $5.02 back in June 2022.

Now, it is normal for prices to increase a bit as the winter months wind down. Demand begins to increase when the weather gets warmer, and summer fuel can be 30 cents more expensive per gallon than winter fuel. But another big factor has been refinery outages, including a weeks-long interruption at the biggest refinery in the Midwest.

According to Triple-A, at $4.70 Hawaii now has the highest price in the country for a gallon of gas, while Wyoming boasts the cheapest, with an average price of $2.80 a gallon.

That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.