The price of crude oil was moving higher Tuesday morning with a recent batch of strong US economic data lifting investor sentiment.
Meanwhile, Chinese retail sales growth accelerated in November to the strongest pace so far this year, while industrial production and fixed asset investments trailed forecasts, the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed, giving mixed signals on the prospects of the economy.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for January delivery, added $1.16 to $98.50 a barrel. Yesterday, oil snapped its six-session winning streak to settle marginally lower as the dollar strengthened on expectations the Federal Reserve will taper QE3 next week.
This morning the U.S. dollar was lingering around its 6-week low versus the euro and around a two-year low against sterling and the Swiss franc. The buck was hovering around its seven-month high versus the yen.
In economic news U.K.'s industrial as well as manufacturing output growth slowed in October as expected by economists, the Office for National Statistics showed. Both industrial and manufacturing output grew 0.4 percent each. The rates matched economists' expectations. Overall industrial production had increased 0.9 percent in September and manufacturing by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the U.K. visible trade gap narrowed to GBP 9.7 billion in October from GBP 10.1 billion in September, the Office for National Statistics revealed. The visible trade deficit with EU countries widened to GBP 6.5 billion from GBP 6.2 billion in September. Meanwhile, the shortfall with non-EU nations narrowed to GBP 3.3 billion from GBP 3.9 billion.
Traders will look to the report on wholesale inventories for October from the Commerce Department, due out at 10 am ET. Economists expect wholesale inventories to have risen by 0.4 percent month-over-month, the same pace as in the previous month.
Today after the market hours, the API will release its US crude oil inventories report for the weekended December 06.
