The price of crude oil was firm Monday morning amid rising tensions in the Middle-East, which might hamper crude oil supplies. Also, strong global equities markets helped lift trader sentiment.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for January delivery, added $1.11 to $88.03 a barrel. Last week, oil gained over 1 percent amid supply concerns with trouble brewing in the Middle East after an Israeli airstrike killed the military chief of Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has since vowed to avenge the death, while Israel indicated continued focus on similar targets.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was steady around its 2-month high versus the euro and sterling. The buck was hovering around its 7-month high versus the yen, while ticking lower against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone's construction production decreased in September after recording growth in the previous two months, preliminary data released by statistical office Eurostat showed. Construction output decreased a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent month-on-month in September, reversing the 0.6 percent rise seen in August. In July, production had increased by 0.3 percent.
Traders will look to the report on existing home sales for October from the National Association of Realtors, due out at 10 a.m. ET. Economists estimate existing home sales of 4.70 million for the month compared to 4.75 million units in September.
Simultaneously, the National Association of Home Builders is scheduled to release the results of its November survey on homebuilders' confidence also at 10 am ET. The consensus estimates call for the index to rise to 42 from 41 in October.
During this week, focus will be on the National Association of Realtors' existing home sales report for October, the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index for November and the Commerce Department's housing starts report for October.
Also, focus will be on the crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Tuesday after the market hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day.
