MW: Crude futures trade lower as data comes in lukewarm
Natural gas futures fall as storage report comes at top of expectations
By Claudia Assis and Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures fell for the third day in a row Thursday as investors got mixed reviews about the state of the U.S. economy.
Crude oil for August delivery fell 54 cents to $75.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices headed deeper into the red after the Commerce Department said durable-good orders declined 1.1% in May, the largest decline since August. A drop of nearly 30% in orders for civilian aircraft accounted for most of the decline. Excluding transportation, orders were up 0.9% in May. See Economic Report on durable goods.
In a gleam of hope, traders got a bit of good news on the all-important job front. The Labor Department said the number of people filing new unemployment claims fell more- than-expected last week. Initial jobless claims fell 19,000 to 457,000 in the week ended June 19. See Economic Report on jobless claims.
August oil ended down 2% on Wednesday following a reporting showing rising U.S. crude inventories. Also, the Federal Reserve said in a statement that the "pace of economic recovery is likely to be moderate for a time," delivering a late-trading day blow to prices.
The Fed warned about several risks, including high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit.
U.S. stocks opened lower, and European equities posted broad-based declines. Read more about stocks.
Meanwhile, natural gas futures reversed again, this time heading lower as a report on storages came in at the top of expectations.
Natural gas for July delivery lost 3 cents to $4.78 per million British thermal units.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday inventories of natural gas increased by 82 billion cubic feet in the week ended June 18. That compares to a five-year average of 86 billion cubic feet.
Analysts surveyed by Platts expect an increase between 78 and 82 billion cubic feet for the week.
"Market reaction seems to be testing the idea that this report was bearish somehow, but we really don't see it that way," Tim Evans, an analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York, said in e-mailed comments. "The big issue remains the hurricane outlook not the weekly storage number in any event."
In other energy news, Russia said Thursday it planned to restore gas supplies to Belarus in full after Minsk paid its debt to state-controlled gas firm Gazprom, settling the two nations' latest energy dispute. Read more on Belarus and Russia.
