SH: Commodities: Oil up ahead of supply data, gold firms
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Crude oil futures rose on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to inventory data and after mixed corporate earnings and disappointing economic data.
Crude for August delivery, which expired at the end of Tuesday’s floor trading, rose 90 cents to settle at $77.44 a barrel. The more active September contract settled up 68 cents to $77.58 a barrel in New York.
Demand for oil came under early pressure, hitting a low of $76 a barrel after data from the Commerce Department showed housing starts fell a bigger than expected 5% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000 in June.
Oil later received support as traders geared up ahead of the Department of Energy's Information Administration’s weekly supply report. Analysts expect to see a decline in weekly crude, gasoline and distillate supplies.
Among precious metals gold moved higher as bargain hunters moved in on recent declines. Gold for August delivery rose $9.80 to $1,191.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
