FX:Crude oil futures ease up with Greece, U.S. supply data in focus
Forexpros - Crude oil futures edged higher during European morning hours on Wednesday, as traders remained fixated on concerns over Greece’s debt woes and the fiscal outlook in the U.S.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD85.98 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.15% on the day.
Prices held in a tight trading range between USD85.59 a barrel, the daily low and a session high of USD86.08 a barrel. New York-traded oil prices slumped to a four-month low of USD84.09 a barrel on November 7.
Concerns over Greece’s fiscal woes remained after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers earlier in the week ended without any final decision on whether to release an urgently needed EUR31.5 billion bailout installment for the debt-strapped country.
The decision instead has been postponed until November 20th, as the International Monetary Fund and European officials were unable to reach an agreement on how best to reduce Greece’s debt to manageable levels.
Investors also remained concerned over the looming “fiscal cliff” in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.
There are fears the U.S. economy will fall back into a recession, unless a divided Congress and the White House can work out a compromise before then.
Meanwhile, oil traders were looking ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of oil demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Thursday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 1.9 million barrels to the highest level since July.
The report is being released a day later than usual due to the Veteran’s Day Holiday in the U.S. on November 12.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil-consuming country, responsible for almost 22% of global oil demand.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery eased up 0.1% to trade at USD107.45 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD22.47 a barrel.
