Crude oil declined for a fourth day in New York as Asian equities fell and confidence among U.S. consumers slipped, adding to concerns a recovery in fuel demand may falter in the biggest energy-consuming nation. Oil dropped after Asian stocks slumped by the most in two weeks as revenue at Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co. missed analyst estimates and a gauge of U.S. consumer confidence sank to the lowest in a year. The dollar strengthened against the euro for a second day, reducing the investment appeal of commodities. “Macro sentiment has taken a negative turn,” Toby Hassall, a commodity analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney, said by telephone. “The global growth outlook is dampening the outlook for the oil market.” Crude oil for August delivery dropped as much as 51 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $75.50 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $75.86 at 3:01 p.m. Singapore time. The contract fell 61 cents to $76.01 on July 16. Futures have declined 4.4 percent this year. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index dropped 1.2 percent to 390.33 as of 1:15 p.m. in Hong Kong. The dollar was at $1.2877 per euro at 2:57 p.m. Singapore time from $1.2930 in New York on July 16. U.S. Earnings The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.5 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 2.9 percent. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported last week that its general economic index fell to 5.1 in July from 19.6 the prior month. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index declined to 5.1 this month, the lowest level since August 2009, from a reading of 8 in June. “Right now, crude oil markets are not too hot and not too cold, so we are likely to stay in the mid-$70s range,” Victor Shum, a senior principal at Purvin & Gertz Inc., said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Singapore today. Brent crude oil for September settlement dropped as much as 35 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $75.02 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, and was at $75.23 at 2:57 p.m. Singapore time. U.S. Government officials ordered BP Plc to submit plans for reopening its sealed Gulf of Mexico well and resuming efforts to capture oil after tests found a suspected leak seeping from the seabed. In a letter addressed to Bob Dudley, BP managing director, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said tests had detected a “seep a distance from the well and undetermined anomalies at the well head.” The letter was posted yesterday on the website of the joint information center for the spill. BP Valve No decision was announced as to whether BP will be ordered to open the valves sealing the well, which would allow oil to resume flowing. BP would restart efforts to capture the oil and funnel it to vessels at the surface after the well is opened. The spill was “already having some impact on non-OPEC supply,” said Purvin & Gertz’s Shum. “But there is a global supply overhang, so it has no impact on pricing. Going into 2011, we’re going to see some evidence of impact.” Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in New York crude-oil futures in the week ended July 13, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 34,645 contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions rose by 8,430 contracts, or 32 percent, from a week earlier. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net

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