MW: Oil futures trade flat as dollar gains; supply data ahead
American Petroleum Institute inventories report due at 4:30 p.m. Eastern
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures traded little changed on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar's strength and expectations of a rise in crude supplies capped gains in the energy markets.
Crude oil for May delivery, the new front-month contract, gained 6 cents to $81.66 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Oil futures finished slightly higher on Monday, reversing intraday losses.
"In the short term, trading is likely to remain characterized by high volatility," said analysts at Commerzbank AG in a note to clients.
"The E.U.'s inability to agree on specific financial support for Greece in the run-up to the E.U. summit should put the euro under further pressure and, hence, should weigh on crude-oil prices," they said.
The euro fell 0.3% to $1.3519 in recent trading, pressured by concerns over whether European Union members can agree on whether and how to provide aid to Greece. European leaders will hold a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
The dollar index (DXY 80.89, +0.24, +0.30%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 80.845 from 80.626 late Monday.
Energy traders are awaiting data on petroleum supplies from the American Petroleum Institute, due at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release a separate report on inventories on Wednesday morning.
Analysts polled by Platts expect a commercial crude inventory increase of 1.67 million barrels for the week ended March 19. They also project a drop of 1.88 million barrels in gasoline supplies and a decline of 1.25 million barrels in distillate supplies.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher opening on Wall Street on Tuesday. Data on existing-home sales for February and the FHFA house price index for January will be released.
