By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures rebounded Wednesday, poised to snap a three-day losing streak as investors waited for a policy announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve and Chairman Ben Bernanke’s news conference.
Crude for December delivery CL1Z +0.97% added $1.36, or 1.5%, to $93.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That recouped some of oil’s recent losses, which have shaved nearly $2 off prices.
U.S. stocks opened higher, and the dollar traded lower, providing some extra support for the commodity.
The dollar index DXY -0.59% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 76.892, compared to 77.298 in late North American trading on Tuesday.
A lower dollar is a positive for oil and other commodities as it makes them less expensive to holders of other currencies.
Also on tap for Wednesday was official word on inventories. The Energy Information Administration is expected to report on weekly supplies at 10:30 a.m.
Analysts polled by Platts expect to see an increase in crude-oil inventories by 1.1 million barrels, and a decline in gasoline inventories by 1.5 million barrels. Stockpiles of distillates are seen down 2.2 million barrels
The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday a decline of 156,000 barrels of crude oil in the week ended Oct. 28.
The trade group also reported a decline of 3.4 million barrels of distillates stocks and a drop of 1.1 million barrels of gasoline stockpiles in the same week.
Other energy products tracked oil higher, with December gasoline RB1Z +1.84% up 5 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.67 a gallon. December heating oil HO1Z +0.19% rose less than 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $3.04 a gallon.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
