Article

Gas prices top highest of the year

While gas prices continued to rise, cheese remained steady last week and wheat saw a significant drop.

May 4, 2015 by Nicole Troxell — Associate Editor, Networld Media Group

While gas prices continued to rise, cheese remained steady last week and wheat saw a significant drop. Natural gas prices also fell on the market. In pizza stocks, Yum! Brands experienced a new 52-week high.

Here's a glimpse at the market:

Cheese

Block cheese prices averaged $1.61 last week on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, up $0.01 from $1.60 the previous week.

Prices remained steady throughout the week.

Wheat

Wheat averaged $5.26 last week on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, down from $5.41 the previous week.

Wheat closed at $5.24 Monday, $5.28 Tuesday, $5.35 Wednesday, $5.23 Thursday and $5.20 Friday.

Gasoline and diesel fuel

Monday's nationwide average for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.62, up from $2.53 the previous week, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices have climbed 19 days in a row and are at the highest of the year, the Fuel Gauge Report said.

Mid-range unleaded came in at $2.83, while Monday's premium unleaded price tipped the three-dollar mark at $3.01, up from $2.92 the previous week.

The nationwide average for diesel fuel is $2.82, up from $2.80 last week. Diesel prices are also up slightly from $2.81 a month ago, but still down more than a dollar from $3.95 a year ago.

Natural Gas

Natural gas prices fell at most market locations through the report week. Henry Hub spot prices started the week at $2.60 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday, and fell a few cents to $2.56/MMBtu.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the June contract yesterday moved into front-month position. Before becoming the prompt month, it opened the report week last at $2.654/MMBtu, dipped during the week, and ended at $2.606/MMBtu, down by a nickel.

Pizza company stocks

Shares in Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands Inc. closed at $91.01 Friday, up from $87.10 the previous week. The company also achieved a new 52-week high of $94.13.

Domino's finished last week at $108.34, down from $113.93, the previous week.

Papa John's finished at $62.10 Friday, a drop from $65.21 the previous week.

Papa Murphy's turned in at $17.29 Friday, down from $17.66 the previous Friday. FRSH's 52-week high came in at $20 and its low at $8.08 this year.

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