WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Crude oil prices are lower Thursday morning, as investors look ahead to some key economic data including a report on US jobless claims.
Crude oil futures for June are down USD0.40 or 0.39% at USD101.97, off a three-week high of USD102.64 touched on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, crude oil futures ended up USD0.67 or 0.67% at USD102.37, extending gains to a third successive session, on concerns over likely supply disruptions from Russia and Libya.
A smaller than expected decline in US crude stockpiles also contributed to oil's rise.
Meanwhile, natural gas for June is down USD0.018 or 0.4% at USD4.350 per million btu.
The US Labor Department is scheduled to release its consumer price inflation report for April at 8:30 am ET. The consensus estimate calls for a 0.3% month-over-month increase in consumer prices and a 0.1% increase in core consumer prices.
The jobless claims report for the week ended May 10th will also be released at 8:30 am ET. Economists estimate claims to have declined to 317,000 from 319,000 in the previous week.
Around the same time, the New York Federal Reserve is set to release the results of its regional manufacturing survey for May. Economists expect the general business conditions index to rise to 5 in May from 1.29 in April.
At 9:15 am ET, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its industrial production report for April. The consensus estimate calls for flat industrial production growth for the month, while capacity utilization is expected to remain unchanged at 79.2%.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey for the region and the National Association of Realtors' report on homebuilder confidence survey will be out at 10 am ET.
