(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil dived to a fresh 7-month low Wednesday morning as concerns over the banking sector in Spain escalated fears over the euro zone debt situation. Further, a strong dollar also weighed on oil prices.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for July delivery lost $1.64 to $89.12 a barrel. Yesterday, oil ended lower on a strengthening dollar and investor concerns over the euro zone crisis
This morning, the U.S. dollar was extending its two-year high versus the euro and hovering around its two-month high against sterling. The buck advanced to a 16-month high against the Swiss franc, while slipping back to a 2-week low versus the yen.
In economic news, euro zone economic confidence declined more than expected to 90.6 in May from revised 92.9 in April, survey results from European Commission showed. Economists were forecasting the index to drop to 91.9. The industrial confidence deteriorated to -11.3 in May from -9 in April. Economists had forecast a fall to -10.2.
Traders will look to the pending home sales data from the National Association of Realtors, due out at 10 a.m ET. The index is expected to have risen 0.5 percent in April following a 4.1 percent jump in the previous month.
Today after the market hours, the API will release its U.S. crude oil inventories report for the weekended May 25.
