By Claudia Assis and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil prices declined Wednesday as investors waited from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision later in the day and official data on inventories.
Light, sweet crude-oil futures for July delivery CLN2 -1.24% declined 94 cents, or 1.1%, to $83.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A statement and a press conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke are on deck, with investors hopeful some hint of additional stimulus is forthcoming. Read a preview of the FOMC meeting.
The Energy Information Administration is also scheduled to report on weekly inventory levels. A trade group’s report late Tuesday showed a decline.
Nymex crude futures have been struggling to break back above the $84.30 level on concerns a deteriorating global economic outlook would pull oil prices down further, said David Morrison, senior market strategist at GFT Markets.
“However, there are concerns that tensions between Iran and the West could be on the rise again ahead of European Union sanctions, which are due to begin in July. This could see speculative buyers return to the market,” he added.
July futures for gasoline RBN2 -0.10% traded marginally lower, off less than one cent, or 0.1%, to $2.64 a gallon.
July natural gas NGN12 +0.31% declined less than one cent to $2.54 per million British thermal units.
Heating oil for the same month’s delivery HON2 +0.26% bucked the trend, up 0.2%, less than one cent, to $2.64 per gallon.
With investors awaiting that decision, the dollar was slightly weaker compared to other major currencies. The ICE dollar index DXY -0.10% , which compares the U.S. unit against 6 major global rivals including the euro, was at 81.333, from 81.365 in late North American trading Tuesday.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
