American Petroleum Institute's inventories data due at 4:30 p.m. Eastern
By Polya Lesova & Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures seesawed Tuesday, most recently edging higher following a government report that showed sales of existing homes fell for the third month in a row.
Crude for May delivery, the new front-month contract, edged up 0.2% to $81.75 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Oil prices had edged lower earlier in the session, hit by continued uncertainty surrounding Greece, which lifted the dollar.
"Once again the buyers are very resilient," said Richard Ross, a technical analyst with Auerbach Grayson in New York. "Every time there's a sign of weakness, buyers step in to keep prices afloat ... it's a standoff between the bulls and the bears."
Traders are keeping their eyes on the inventories report, expected to show a rise in crude supplies.
Oil futures finished slightly higher on Monday, reversing intraday losses.
"In the short-term, trading is likely to remain characterized by high volatility," said analysts at Commerzbank AG in a note to clients.
"The E.U.'s inability to agree on specific financial support for Greece in the run-up to the E.U. summit should put the euro under further pressure and, hence, should weigh on crude-oil prices," they said.
The euro fell 0.4% to $1.3506 in recent trading, pressured by concerns over whether European Union members can agree on whether and how to provide aid to Greece.
European leaders will hold a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
The dollar index (DXY 80.71, +0.06, +0.07%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was flat at 80.68. Read more in Currencies.
Data on petroleum supplies from the American Petroleum Institute are due at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release a separate report on inventories on Wednesday morning.
Analysts polled by Platts expect a commercial-crude-inventory increase of 1.67 million barrels for the week ended March 19. They also project a drop of 1.88 million barrels in gasoline supplies and a decline of 1.25 million barrels in distillate supplies.
