By Claudia Assis and Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures reversed course on Friday, trading lower as U.S. stocks traded sharply lower and macroeconomic data for the day was mixed.
Crude futures for November delivery CLX2 +0.12% declined 14 cents, or 0.1%, to $91.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has lost 5% on the month, but was looking at its best quarter of the year, up nearly 7%.
Oil jumped 2.1% Thursday after a speech from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly fanned fears about Iran’s nuclear plans.
Tehran has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful. In the standoff, it has threatened more than once to close down key global oil- shipping lines in the Strait of Hormuz.
An embargo by the U.S. and Europe on Iranian-produced oil has been in effect since July.
Worries about tensions in the Mideast and the boost from a fresh volley of economic stimulus have boosted oil in recent months, although profit-taking and a resurgence of fears about the euro zone have taken a toll in September.
On Friday, Consumer sentiment rose in September to 78.3 from 74.3 in August, according to reports on the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters gauge. Economists polled by MarketWatch, however, had expected the index to rise to 79.5. See: Consumer sentiment highest in four months.
Earlier on the day, the MNI Chicago report said its Chicago-area purchasing managers’ index fell to its lowest settlement in three years, to 49.7 in September from 53 in August.
Meanwhile, the dollar turned stronger, also applying some pressure on commodities.
The ICE dollar index DXY +0.43% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose to 79.847 from 79.560 in North American trade late Thursday. See: Dollar up before Spain bank tests.
A stronger dollar tends to discourage investment in crude, as it makes the commodity more expensive to holders of other currencies.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, natural gas for November delivery NGX12 -0.39% traded down 2 cents, or 0.7%, at $3.28 per million British thermal units.
Gasoline for October delivery RBV2 +0.28% rose less than 1 cent, or 0.1%, to $3.15 a gallon, while heating oil for the same month’s delivery HOV2 +0.30% added less than 1 cent, or 0.1%, to $3.16 a gallon. Both contracts expire at the end of floor trading Friday.
Gasoline has been the standout, and it has gained 31% on the quarter. Month-to-date, it has advanced nearly 6%.
Refinery problems, including flooding in some of the Gulf region refineries as Hurricane Isaac passed through in late August, and the start of refinery maintenance season, have dented gasoline production.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
