Crude-oil futures were rangebound in Asian trade Tuesday as investors weighed concerns about the euro zone and economic growth against continued tension between Iran and the West.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at $91.94 a barrel at 0639 GMT, up $0.01 in the Globex electronic session. November Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.33 to $109.48 a barrel.
"Market sentiment toward the euro zone and the euro continued to ebb," Singapore-based OCBC Bank said in a note.
Overnight, Germany's Ifo business-confidence index showed a fifth consecutive monthly decline in September, indicating that the European Central Bank's recently announced bond buying program is having little effect on the real economy.
The euro steadied during Asian trading after falling overnight, but most Asian stock markets were lower.
High inventory levels are also weighing on oil prices. U.S. oil-inventory data are expected to show that crude inventories rose 1.6 million barrels in the week ended Friday, according to a median forecast of analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
The closely watched survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due at 14:30 a.m. GMT Wednesday. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, is scheduled to release its own inventory survey at 20:30 GMT Tuesday.
The lack of follow-through for oil prices following the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan's announcements of stimulus measures is bearish, but "equally strong bullish elements" could keep prices well-supported for a few more weeks, energy consulting firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in its weekly note.
The firm cited "indications of supply tightness" in Brent due to a reported delay in a North Sea cargo and longer-than-expected Buzzard field maintenance.
Important data due later in the day include the U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index at 1300 GMT, July House Price Index and September Consumer Confidence Index at 1400 GMT.
The U.S. Treasury Monday said National Iranian Oil Co. is linked to the country's military, in a move that's likely to subject firms that do business with the state-run company to sanctions.
"The geopolitical context is such that oil-price risks are biased to the upside in a world of fairly limited spare capacity," Barclays said in a note.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for October--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 6 points to $2.9170 a gallon, while October heating oil traded at $3.0897, 89.99999 points lower.
ICE gasoil for October changed hands at $968.25 a metric ton, up $2.00 from Monday's settlement.
