NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Crude futures jostled around the $82 mark during a listless Tuesday session as market observers prepared themselves for the week's latest inventory numbers.
The May delivery contract for crude was recently trading 12 cents lower at $82.05 a barrel, though the contract touched as high as $82.74 a barrel.
Some improving economic news may have given a lift to prices in the morning. On that front, consumer confidence rose more than expected in March, according to the Conference Board.
In an already battered housing market, home prices in Case-Shiller's latest 20-city index edged up 0.3% in January after seasonal adjustments. Still, the assessment was mixed, as prices fell 0.4% without the seasonal effects.
But commodity traders will begin focusing on demand data in the afternoon. The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release estimates of last week's supply figures at 4:30 p.m. EST. A Platts survey suggests that crude stocks rose by 2.65 million barrels for the week ending March 26. But those same analysts also expect a drawdown in fuel supplies, with gasoline inventories falling by 2 million barrels and distillates declining by 1.2 million barrels.
The government's Energy Information Administration will also unveil its own supply numbers Wednesday morning.
After leading the major market averages higher on Monday, many oil-related stocks were taking a breather today. The NYSE Arca Oil index was slipping 0.1%, itself led lower by slumping refiners Sunoco(SUN) and Valero(VLO). Those shares were falling 1.9% and 0.2%, respectively.
The oil service sector was trading broadly flat, down 0.02% on the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index. Nabors Industries(NBR) was showing particular weakness, sliding 1.8% today.
Also on the Nymex, May heating oil declined nearly a penny to $2.12 a gallon, as May gasoline edged a fraction higher to $2.26 a gallon. The May delivery natural gas contract improved about 4 cents to $3.95 per million British thermal units.
