(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was leveling off from its 2-week high Friday morning as traders turned cautious ahead of non-farm payroll data from the U.S. Labor Department.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for November delivery, eased $0.28 to $82.31 a barrel. Yesterday, oil extended gains for a second session, moving back towards a 2-week high, as the dollar weakened and support measures from the European Central Bank raised the outlook for demand.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was lingering near its weekly-low versus the euro and and sterling, while trading flat against the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, industrial production in Germany declined at slower-than-expected pace in August, data from the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology showed. After adjusting to seasonal and calendar variations, production fell 1 percent month-on-month, compared to expectations for a 2 percent fall. In July, production grew 3.9 percent, which is revised from initially reported 4 percent growth.
Earlier today, Moody's Investors Service downgraded senior debt and deposit ratings of nine Portuguese banks, citing deterioration of their unsupported financial strength. The agency said that it saw increased asset risk for these banks as a direct consequence of the their holdings of Portuguese government debt and the sovereign's downgraded rating.
Traders will look to the non-farm payroll report from the U.S. Labor Department, due out at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect non-farm payrolls for September to increase by 65,000, but the unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 9.2 percent.
Later during the session, the Commerce Department is due to release its wholesale inventories report. Economists expect the inventories at the end of August to show a 0.6 percent increase.
