The price of crude oil was little changed Monday morning on supply concerns as traders focus on the developments in Egypt.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for August delivery, eased $0.26 to $102.96 a barrel. Last week, oil advanced nearly 7 percent to hit a 14-month high amid concerns over supply disruption from the Middle East and Africa. Oil output in Libya fell drastically as protesters shut several oilfields, even as tensions escalated in Egypt following anti-government demonstrations with the army threatening to intervene.
This morning the U.S. dollar was trading near its 6-week high versus the euro and around a four-month high against sterling. The buck was steady around its one-month high versus the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, German exports declined unexpectedly in May, while the growth in imports accelerated from the prior month, Destatis reported. Exports dropped 2.4 percent month-on-month, confounding expectations for a 0.1 percent rise. The decline in May revered 1.4 percent increase in April. Meanwhile, imports grew at a faster pace of 1.7 percent after rising 1.2 percent a month ago. It was forecast to remain flat in May.
Meanwhile, German industrial production declined more than expected in May due to notable decline in construction and energy output, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology said. Industrial output fell 1 percent in May from the previous month, the steepest since October 2012. Economists expected the production to fall 0.5 percent after rising 2 percent in April.
Euro zone investor confidence deteriorated in July after rising for two consecutive months, survey results from think-tank Sentix showed. The investor confidence index fell to -12.6 in July from -11.6 in June, also worse-than the expected reading of -11.7.
During this week focus will be on the preliminary results of a consumer sentiment survey by Reuters and the University of Michigan, the jobless claims report and the minutes of the June 18-19 monetary policy meeting The Federal Reserve's consumer credit report for May, the Commerce Department's wholesale inventories report for May, the Labor Department reports on producer prices and export and import prices for June, the Treasury budget for June and the results of the Treasury auctions of 3-year and 10-year notes and 30-year bonds round up the economic events of the week.
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.
