MW: Crude oil shoulders economic data to rise from 5-week lows
By Nick Godt, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures on Tuesday rebounded from the prior session's fall to five-week lows to reclaim the $76-a-barrel level, lifted by a weaker U.S. dollar and a better outlook among stock investors.
Crude for September delivery gained 95 cents, 1.3%, to $76.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, the contract lost 15 cents to end at $75.24 a barrel, the lowest for a most-active contract since mid-July, dragged down by lingering concerns about the global economy.
Oil strengthened after the Federal Reserve said industrial production rose 1% in July. That was stronger than the 0.6% expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch, and was helped by a rise in auto production.
Oil had held onto gains after an early batch of U.S. economic reports showed producer prices rose 0.2% in July while housing starts rose less than forecast, by 1.7% to a 546,000 pace.
Stock futures pointed to a higher open.
After the close of trading, American Petroleum Institute will report its stockpiles data.
Analysts polled by Platts expect crude-oil inventories to have decline by 2.25 million barrels in the latest week.
Platts analysts also forecast a decline of 1.6 million barrels for gasoline stockpiles and an increase of 1.4 million barrels for inventories of distillates.
The more closely watched government data is expected Wednesday.
