The price of crude oil was leveling off from its two-week high Friday morning as traders speculate that demand for crude will be lower than anticipated in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for December delivery, shed $0.71 to $86.38 a barrel. Yesterday, oil settled near a two-week high after the Energy Information Administration's weekly oil report showed a decline in U.S. crude stockpile even as analysts expected an increase. Crude prices were also supported by a slew of upbeat macroeconomic data from the U.S., with some positive manufacturing data from China
Thursday during trading hours, the EIA revealed that U.S. crude oil inventories dipped 2.0 million barrels, while gasoline stocks added 0.90 million barrels in the weekended October 26. Analysts expected crude oil inventories to jump 1.50 million barrels and gasoline stocks to add 200,000 barrels last week.
This morning, the U.S. dollar advanced back near a three-week high versus the euro, while paring recent losses against sterling. The buck was steady near a 4-month high versus the yen and moving higher against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, activity in euro zone's manufacturing sector decreased for the fifteenth consecutive month in October, though at a marginally slower rate than estimated earlier, as domestic market conditions remained subdued and trade flows deteriorated further, final data released by Markit Economics showed. The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index decreased to 45.4 in October from 46.1 in September. The latest reading was slightly higher than 45.3 seen in the preliminary estimates.
Meanwhile, Germany's manufacturing sector contraction in October was less severe than expected earlier, but activity dropped for the eighth consecutive month, final survey data released by Markit Economics revealed. The Markit/BME Germany Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 46 from 47.4 in September.
Traders will look to the non-farm payroll report for the month of October from the U.S. Labor Department, due out at 8.30 a.m.ET. Economists expect non-farm payrolls for October to increase by 125,000, while the unemployment rate is expected to edge up to 7.9 percent.
Later during the session, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on factory goods orders for September. Economists estimate a 4.9 percent increase in orders for factory goods following a 5.2 percent increase in August.
