(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was extending gains Tuesday morning as traders looked past the debt downgrade of six euro zone nations as they focus on developments in Iran, which could hinder exports from the region.
Moody's downgraded debt ratings of Italy, Spain and Portugal. Moody's Investors service also placed negative outlooks on France, Britain and Austria, and said Europe's weakening economic prospects threaten the implementation of domestic austerity programs and structural reforms needed for greater competitiveness.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for March delivery, were up $0.56 to $101.47 a barrel. Yesterday, oil gathered over 2 percent to settle at an one-month high mostly on optimism for increased demand after lawmakers in Greece approved an austerity bill to secure a second bailout package. CME Group's electronic oil trading platform was affected by a technical glitch in the last half hour of Monday's trading in the US.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was lingering near a 2-month low versus the euro and trading flat against sterling. The buck was moving lower against the Swiss franc, while advancing to a three-week high versus the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, U.K. annual inflation slowed in January as expected by economists to the lowest since November 2010, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Consumer price annual inflation slowed to 3.6 percent from 4.2 percent a month ago. Nevertheless, the inflation figure remains well above the 2 percent target.
Meanwhile, German economic expectations improved sharply in February, data from the Mannheim based Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) showed. The economic sentiment index rose by 27 points to 5.4 in February compared to expectations for an improvement to -11.8.
Traders will look to the retail sales report from the U.S. Commerce Department, due out at 8.30. a.m. ET. Economists estimate a 0.7 percent increase in retail sales and a 0.6 percent improvement in retail sales excluding autos.
Today after the market hours, the API will come out with its report on U.S. crude oil inventories for the weekended February 10. Analysts estimate crude oil inventories pile up by 1.90 million barrels last week.
