IV:Crude oil futures little changed near 7-week high
Investing.com - Crude oil futures were little changed on Tuesday, as investors stuck to the sidelines ahead of comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD97.02 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.1% on the day.
New York-traded oil prices held in a range between USD96.75 a barrel, the daily low and a session high of USD97.23 a barrel.
Nymex oil rallied to a seven-week high of USD97.35 a barrel on Monday.
Market players remained cautious ahead of Bernanke’s testimony at the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and the minutes of the Fed’s most recent policy meeting, both due Wednesday.
Markets were awaiting any indication that the U.S. central bank will begin to scale back its asset purchase program this year after recent economic data bolstered optimism over the economic recovery.
Oil traders also looked ahead to the release of 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 Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 0.4 million barrels.
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 June delivery shed 0.2% to trade at USD104.57 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD7.55 a barrel.
The gap between the contracts narrowed to the lowest level since January 2011 last week, amid an improving production outlook in the North Sea and indications of declining stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for Nymex oil futures.
