RTN:Crude Extends Gains Above $101 On Supply Concerns
(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil rose above $101 Thursday morning after the OPEC yesterday failed to arrive at a consensus on hiking supplies.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for July delivery were up $0.74 to $101.48 a barrel. Yesterday, oil settled above $100 for the time in three sessions after the OPEC said it is not increasing production quota as of now, belying analysts' expectations for a raise the quota to curb higher oil prices.
Wednesday during trading hours, the EIA revealed that U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 4.80 million barrels, while gasoline stocks moved up by 2.20 million barrels in the week ended June 03. Analysts were expecting a decline of 1.5 million barrels in crude oil stocks and an increase of 1.1 million barrels for supplies of gasoline last week.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was lingering near its one-month low versus the euro ahead of an interest rate decision from the ECB. The buck was trading flat against sterling amid the Bank of England's interest rate decision, while edging higher versus the Swiss franc and the yen.
The BoE left its key rates unchanged at 0.50 percent and holds asset purchase program at GBP 200 billion,.
Traders will look to the U.S. Labor Department's report on weekly jobless claims. Economists expect claims to have declined to 418,000 in the week ended June 04 from 422,000 in the previous week.
Also, the Commerce Department will come out with its April trade balance report. Economists expect the trade deficit to have widened to $49 billion from $48.2 billion in March, mainly due to higher oil prices.
