MW: Oil prices flat ahead of supply, economic data
EIA supply data coming up later
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday, as investors awaited supply data and U.S. economic indicators.
Oil for December delivery CLZ2 +0.02% rose 2 cents to $86.69 a barrel in electronic trading. The contract closed down $1.98, or 2.2%, to settle at $86.67 a barrel Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Futures briefly traded in negative territory after the October composite euro-zone purchasing-managers index indicated contraction, defying forecasts for a modest rise. Around the same time, the German Ifo business climate index dropped for the sixth straight month. The dollar rose versus the euro EURUSD -0.1154% on the back of that data.
A rising dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities such as oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
But perking up sentiment, the flash version of HSBC’s China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index hit a three-month high, helped by new orders. Read: China factory data add to 'soft landing' view
The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude-oil supplies rose 313,000 barrels for the week ended Oct. 19, which was smaller than analysts had forecast. Distillate stocks fell by 890,000 barrels and gasoline inventories climbed by 181,000 barrels. Read: API reports smaller-than-expected oil supply rise
The Energy Information Administration will release its more closely watched supply data on Wednesday.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a stronger start for Wall Street. The prior session saw the Dow industrials take the worst single-day hit in four months on weaker earnings from big companies such as chemical maker DuPont DD -0.51% . Read: U.S. stocks retreat sharply on earnings
The focus turns to economic data Wednesday, with data on sales of new homes due at 10 a.m. Eastern time and a flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index due at 9 a.m. Eastern.
Among other energy contracts, heating oil for November delivery HOX2 +0.11% rose 1 cent to $3.06 a gallon, while November gasoline RBX2 +0.32% rose 2 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.63 a gallon.
Natural gas for November delivery NGX12 -0.54% gained 1 cent to $3.55 per million British thermal units.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid.
