Crude oil holds under $98 in New York

The price of crude oil in New York held steady Monday, hovering under $98 per barrel in advance of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday. At stake is the continuation of the Fed's quantitative easing program, which would be considered positive, while any signal the Fed is ready to slow down its asset purchasing would be the opposite. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude lost 5 cents to reach $97.80 per barrel. Home heating oil added a 1.78 cents to reach $2.9275 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 8 cents to settle at $3.63 per million British thermal units. Reformulated blendstock gasoline added 0.44 cents reach $2.5915 a gallon. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped to $3.285 per gallon from Sunday's $3.393, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.