By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures held close to flat Tuesday, hovering around their highest level in nearly two weeks, as traders awaited a string of reports on oil inventories and the wider economy over the coming days.
Light crude for October delivery CL1V -0.20% slipped 11 cents to $87.16 a barrel. The contract settled 2.2% higher on Monday, helped by optimism about the U.S. economy after data showed Americans were earning and spending more.
The gains also came after damage from Hurricane Irene was not as bad as feared and oil refineries escaped major damage.
“We think that most markets have benefited recently from the fact that some key U.S. macro numbers have come in much stronger than expected, blindsiding a growing number of investors who were expecting a sharper slowdown and are now perhaps scrambling to cover some of their shorts,” said Edward Meir, senior commodity analyst at MF Global, in a note to clients.
Meir added, however, that he would be “somewhat wary about getting too long on energy at current levels,” as markets are nearing some short-term resistance points.
On the data front Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute will publish weekly oil data at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. That will be followed by the weekly statistics from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
Analysts polled by Platts expect the data to show crude-oil supplies falling by around 1.2 million barrels as low imports more than offset the release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve.
Gasoline stocks are expected to drop by 1.1 million barrels, while distillates stocks are seen rising by 1.1 million barrels.
Broader economic data could drive oil prices later in the week, culminating Friday with the August nonfarm-payrolls report and unemployment rate.
Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London.
