By Claudia Assis and Nick Godt , MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures were lower Thursday as the day's round of macroeconomic reports put in question the economic recovery, and demand for oil. Crude was taking most of its cues from a falling stock market.
Crude for July delivery, the front-month contract, fell 47 cents, or 0.6%, to $77.21 a barrel. Most-active August contract fell 15 cents to $78.57 a barrel.
U.S. stocks opened flat but quickly lost momentum after May's index of leading economic indicators rose 0.4%, less than expected, pointing to slower U.S. growth.
Energy prices had stayed under pressure after the Labor Department reported U.S. jobless claims rose by 12,000 in the past week, roughly twice of what most analysts had expected.
The department also reported that consumer prices fell 0.2% in May, in line with expectations, and the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. current account deficit widened for the third consecutive quarter.
The front-month contract has posted gains for the past four sessions and on Wednesday posted a fresh six-week high even as the Department of Energy's weekly inventories report showed an unexpected increase in crude stockpiles.
On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 1.7 million barrels in oil inventories in the week ended June 11. Analysts surveyed by Platts expected a decrease of around 1.75 million barrels.
Meanwhile, natural-gas futures were back to gains as traders await a weekly report on natural-gas inventories. Natural gas for July delivery added 13 cents, or 2.7%, to $5.11 per million British thermal units.
The EIA is scheduled to report its estimate of natural-gas stockpiles at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Analysts surveyed by Platts expect an increase between 88 and 92 billion cubic feet to natural gas in storage for the week ended June 11.
A build within expectations would compare to an increase of 113 billion cubic feet in the same week last year and a five-year average increase of 84 billion cubic feet, Platts said.
Gasoline for July delivery added 2 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.17 a gallon.
