RTTN:Crude Steady Above $95 Ahead Of Inventories Data
The price of crude oil was little changed Wednesday morning as traders await cues from the official inventories data, due out later during the session.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for June delivery, slipped $0.05 to $95.57 a barrel. Yesterday, oil ended lower mostly on profit taking after having gained more than five percent over the last three sessions. Oil prices were also impacted on news reports of increased production by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer, by about two percent last month, ahead of the weekly oil reports. The losses were somewhat capped by continuing tensions in the Middle East after Israeli warplanes last week targeted Syrian military installations just outside Damascus, reportedly containing high-end surface-to-surface missiles from Iran for shipment to Hezbollah.
Tuesday after the market hours, the API said US crude oil inventories moved up 680,000 barrels, while gasoline stocks fell 186,000 barrels in the week ended May 03.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was moving back near its weekly low versus the euro, while lingering near a three-month low versus sterling. The buck was steady around its 4-year high versus the yen and advancing toward a two-week high against the Swiss franc.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's industrial production increased at a significantly faster rate in March, belying expectations for a modest decline, latest data showed. Industrial production increased a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent sequentially in March, after gaining a revised 0.6 percent in February, data released by the Ministry of Economics and Technology showed Wednesday. Economists had forecast output to edge down 0.1 percent, following the previous month's originally reported 0.5 percent gain.
Meanwhile, consumer prices in Switzerland continued to fall in April, the latest data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. The consumer price index fell 0.6 percent year-on-year in April, faster than the expected 0.5 percent slump. This compares with a 0.6 percent fall in March and a 1 percent drop in April 2012.
Today during trading hours, the EIA will release its US crude oil inventories report for the weekended May 03. Analysts expect crude oil inventories to jump 1.90 million barrels last week.
