Crude oil holds under $89

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices held under $89 per barrel in New York Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would continue with a $600 billion bond purchasing program.

There was little expectation the Fed would alter the program just one month after it began but investors quickly moved from safer havens of commodities and bonds and into equities after Tuesday's announcement.

Wednesday morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange, January delivery light, sweet crude oil added 17 cents to $88.45 per barrel. Heating oil prices gained 1.23 cents to $2.4802 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 1.28 cents to $2.3092 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices dropped 1.7 cents to $4.238 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline reached $2.984 per gallon from Tuesday's $2.979, AAA said.