By V. Phani Kumar and Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Oil futures declined Tuesday to give up some of the previous day’s gains, while the dollar edged higher on caution ahead of Slovakia’s vote on the bailout fund of the euro zone.
Light sweet crude oil for November delivery CL1X -0.56% edged down 54 cents to $84.87 a barrel, after jumping nearly 3% the previous session to close at a level not seen since late September. The decline in oil prices came after the front-month contract logged four straight days of gains.
The weakness came as U.S. stocks pointed to a lower opening and as European stocks retreated, reflecting a generally cautious tone ahead of the Slovakian parliament‘s vote on the 440 billion euro ($600 billion) bailout fund of the euro zone. Read Indications.
Slovakia, the poorest of the 17 members of the euro zone, appeared likely to fall short of the votes needed to approve increased powers for the bailout fund, with the vote exposing strains within the nation’s ruling four-party coalition. Read full story on the Slovak vote.
The dollar recouped some of Monday’s losses versus the euro ahead of the vote, with the currency EURUSD -0.38% buying $1.3584 versus $1.3644 in North America the previous day, and $1.3602 earlier in the day in Europe, and weighing on commodities priced in the greenback. Read currencies.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
