Crude oil steady Wednesday

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NEW YORK, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The price of crude oil stood pat in New York markets Wednesday, hovering under $93 per barrel.

Oil traders held steady while the dollar dropped and equities soared after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony Tuesday on Capitol Hill in which he defended the Fed's monetary policy position in an attempt to quell doubts about its asset purchasing program.

An Italian bond auction Wednesday found strong demand, which boosted equity markets.

With all this going on, crude oil lost 1 penny from Tuesday's close, finishing Wednesday's session at $92.78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gasoline prices on the exchange dropped 9.08 cents to finish at $3.128 per gallon.

Heating oil shed 4.4 cents to reach $2.9915 per gallon. Natural gas lost 2.5 cents to hit $3.437 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline rose from Tuesday's $3.782 per gallon to $3.786, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.