RTTN:Crude Edges Down Ahead Of Official Inventories Data
(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was moving lower Wednesday morning as traders await cues from the official inventories data from the EIA.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for August delivery, slipped $0.40 to $88.82 a barrel. Yesterday, oil ended higher even after the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to make any clear hint at further quantitative easing investors expected.
Tuesday after the market hours, the API said crude oil inventories dipped 2 million barrels and gasoline stocks eased 116,000 barrels in the weekended July 13.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was hovering near its 2-year high versus the euro, while ticking higher against sterling. The buck was moving lower versus the yen and moving higher against the Swiss franc.
In economic news from the euro zone, Bank of England policymakers raised the size of economic stimulus by GBP 50 billion this month through a split vote as two members opposed the move, the minutes of the meeting revealed today. Members also plan to examine possibilities of cutting the benchmark interest rate below 0.50 percent, after assessing the impact of new measures.
Meanwhile, British unemployment rate declined in the quarter to May, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. The ILO unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in March-May from a revised 8.3 percent in the three months through February. Economists expected the rate to remain unchanged from the February quarter's original figure of 8.2 percent.
Traders will look to the report on housing starts and building permits from the U.S. Commerce Department, due out at 8:30 am ET. Economists estimate housing starts for June to come in at 745,000, while building permits are expected to have slipped to 775,000.
Today during trading hours, the EIA will release its U.S. crude oil inventories report for the weekended July 13. Analysts expect crude oil inventories to shed 1.4 million barrels, while gasoline stocks are seen adding 700,000 barrels last week.
