By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — U.S. crude-oil futures moved in a narrow range above the psychologically important $100-a-barrel level in electronic trading Thursday, reflecting caution ahead of the European Central Bank’s interest-rate decision and a crucial European Union summit.
Light, sweet crude-oil futures for January delivery CL2F +0.28% gained 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $100.58 a barrel on Globex.
The front-month New Mercantile Exchange contract moved about in a thin range between $100.26 and $100.77, in absence of any material moves in U.S. stock index futures and the dollar index.
The ICE dollar index DXY -0.08% , which measures the greenback’s movement against six other major currencies, was at 78.462 in Asian afternoon trading, compared with 78.470 in North America late Wednesday.
The euro EURUSD +0.03% was fetching $1.3402 versus $1.3405 ahead of a widely expected quarter-point rate cut by the ECB later in the day, with the focus on central bank President Mario Draghi’s pronouncements after the rate decision. Read full preview of the ECB meeting.
Several analysts said markets were also awaiting the outcome of a two-day meeting of European Union leaders, which was slated to begin later Thursday, in what is being seen as a potentially make-or-break summit for the euro.
U.S. stock index futures, which often tend to provide cues for crude-oil trading, remained in a tight range around the break-even level. Futures on key benchmarks such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were flat, while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1%.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
