By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures edged lower in electronic trading Wednesday as the dollar rose and traders awaited the weekly U.S. inventory report due out later in the day.
Crude for March delivery CL2H -0.60% fell 89 cents, or nearly 1%, to $98.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange during European trading hours.
Oil had pushed over the $99-a -barrel mark in Asian trading hours, after a stronger dollar and lack of resolution in Greek debt negotiations pressured prices in Tuesday’s North American session.
But those gains evaporated in Europe amid a general pullback in risk appetite, with stocks falling across the board. Strength in the U.S. dollar tends to dull demand for most dollar-denominated commodities.
The dollar was also getting a big boost against the yen after Japan, now the No. 3 global economy, posted its first annual trade deficit since 1980.
A Bloomberg news survey released ahead of the U.S. government’s update on petroleum inventories showed crude stockpiles likely rose as imports rebounded. The report is slated for release later on Wednesday.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude supplies climbed by 7.3 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 20.
Gasoline inventories fell by 573,000 barrels, while distillate inventories dropped 2.5 million barrels, the trade group said.
Analysts polled by Platts expect crude stockpiles rose by 700,000 barrels for the week. They also pegged an increase in gasoline of 2.2 million barrels and a decrease of 300,000 barrels for distillates.
