By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures wavered between small gains and losses Thursday, garnering some support from positive U.S. housing data as well as geopolitical concerns but under selling pressure after having settled at three-month highs in the prior session.
Crude for September delivery CLU2 +0.31% declined 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $94.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Petroleum products also gave ground, pulling back from Wednesday settlements that left them at multi-month highs.
September crude rose to levels last seen in May after the Department of Energy’s Wednesday update showed a larger-than-expected drop in crude stockpiles last week. Read more on Wednesday's oil move.
Stronger earlier, the dollar turned modestly lower, also coloring the trading in crude. A stronger U.S. currencyn tends to pressure dollar-denominated commodities as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The ICE dollar index DXY -0.24% , a measure of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, eased back to 82.516 from 82.649 in late Wednesday.
Meanwhile, some geopolitical worries helped keep a floor under energy prices.
“With Saudi Arabia recommending its citizens to leave Lebanon yesterday, to the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. saying Israel would be willing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, unrest in the Middle East is increasing on several fronts,” said Matt Smith, analyst with Summit Energy in Kentucky.
Also on traders’ radar screens, the Commerce Department said earlier that housing starts fell 1.1% in July after a jump in June. Building permits rose 6.8% in July, the highest level since August 2008.
Rounding out the early action in energy, September gasoline RBU2 -0.70% retreated 2 cents, or 0.8%, to stand at $3.06 a gallon, while September heating oil HOU2 +0.00% was off less than 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $3.08 a gallon.
Natural gas for September delivery NGU2 +0.15% rose 1 cent, or 0.5%, to $2.76 per million British thermal units.
As for the Energy Information Administration’s update on gas in storage, Summit Energy analysts expect an increase around 24 billion cubic feet for the week ended Aug. 10.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
