EIA supply data coming up; global economic data mixed
By Myra P. Saefong and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil prices edged lower Wednesday, poised to log their fifth straight session decline as investors awaited government supply data and scrutinized the latest global economic indicators.
Oil for December delivery CLZ2 -0.15% fell 46 cents, or 0.5%, to $86.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices closed down $2.2% to settle at $86.67 a barrel Tuesday, their lowest since mid-July.
Futures 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 -0.1617% on the back of that data, further pressuring dollar-denominated oil.
But sentiment in oil found some support after the flash version of HSBC’s China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index hit a three-month high, helped by new orders. See: China factory data add to 'soft landing' view.
Also Wednesday, Markit said its U.S. flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index edged up to 51.3 in October from a three-year low of 51.1 in September.
And U.S. data on new-home sales showed a 5.7% rise in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 389,000, the highest pace since April 2010. But the sales pace in August was downwardly revised and the median sales price in September declined by 3.2%. See: Sales of new homes rise 5.7% in September.
Data watch
The oil market also awaited weekly government data on petroleum supplies, expecting to see an increase in crude-oil supplies.
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. See: API reports smaller-than-expected oil supply rise
The Energy Information Administration will release its more closely watched supply data shortly.
Analysts polled by Platts expect a 1.7 million-barrel increase in crude-oil supplies for last week. They also forecast a decline of 1 million barrels for gasoline inventories and a fall of 1.5 million barrels in distillate supplies.
Also on the docket, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee will announce its decision on monetary policy, shortly before oil’s regular trading session on Nymex ends later Wednesday.
Among other energy contracts, heating oil for November delivery HOX2 +0.24% rose less than 1 cent to $3.05 a gallon, while November gasoline RBX2 +0.33% rose 1 cent, or 0.5%, to $2.62 a gallon.
Natural gas for November delivery NGX12 -2.09% shed 5 cents, or 1.5%, to $3.48 per million British thermal units.
Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid.
