IV:Crude oil futures bounce off 5-month low ahead of U.S. supply data
Investing.com - Crude oil futures bounced off the lowest level since June on Wednesday, as market players awaited key U.S. weekly supply data to gauge the strength of oil demand from the world’s largest consumer.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD94.15 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.8%.
New York-traded oil futures traded in a range between USD93.36 a barrel, the daily low and a session high of USD94.18 a barrel.
The December contract fell to USD93.07 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest since June 24, before ending down 1.32% at USD93.37 a barrel.
Oil futures were likely to find support at USD92.73 a barrel, the low from June 24 and resistance at USD96.64 a barrel, the high from November 1.
Oil traders were awaiting data from the U.S. government on oil and fuel supplies later in the day to gauge the strength of demand from the world’s largest oil consumer.
The report was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose by 1.7 million barrels last week, while gasoline inventories were forecast to fall by 400,000 barrels.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 870,000 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles declined 4.3 million barrels.
U.S. crude prices have been on a downward trend in recent weeks amid concerns the recent U.S. government shutdown created a drag on economic growth and eroded demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Crude oil inventories rose by 4.1 million barrels last week to 383.9 million barrels, the highest level since June.
Market players also eyed the release of key U.S. economic data later in the week to help assess the timing for a reduction in the Federal Reserve’s bond-purchasing program.
The U.S. is set to release preliminary data on third quarter economic growth on Thursday, while October’s highly-anticipated nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled for Friday.
The Fed sounded more optimistic than anticipated in its assessment of the economy following its policy-setting meeting last week, sparking speculation the central bank could start tapering stimulus at its December meeting.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery rose 0.7% to trade at USD106.05 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD11.90 a barrel.
