The price of crude oil was recovering from its yesterday's steep fall Thursday morning even as worries continued that US may not be able to avoid the deep spending cuts and tax hikes set to automatically take place in January.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for December delivery, added $0.88 to $85.32 a barrel. Yesterday, oil shed nearly 5 percent after the Energy Information Administration's weekly oil report showed an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles with the dollar trading higher even as the euro slipped on euro zone worries. Oil prices also were impacted by demand growth concerns over the ongoing euro zone financial crisis.
Wednesday during trading hours, the EIA revealed that US crude oil inventories moved up by 1.80 million barrels and gasoline stocks added 2.90 million barrels in the weekended November 02. Analysts expected crude oil inventories to gain 1.8 million barrels last week.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was extending its 2-month high versus the euro and the Swiss franc, while advancing towards a three-week high against sterling. The buck was leveling off from its 4-month high versus the yen.
In economic news, Germany's exports declined in September at the fastest pace since December 2011, reflecting subdued demand from Europe. Exports declined 2.5 percent in September from a month ago, offsetting a 2.3 percent rise in August, Destatis said. Economists had forecast a 1.5 percent monthly fall for September.
The Bank of England today maintained its quantitative easing at GBP 375 billion and the interest rate at 0.50 percent, as widely expected.
The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision at 7.45 a.m. ET. The central bank is seen holding its interest rate at 0.75 percent.
Traders will look to the weekly jobless claims report from the U.S. Labor Department due out at 8.30 a.m.ET. Economists expect claims to increase to 370,000 from 363,000 in the previous week.
Separately, the Commerce Department will release the trade gap data for September. Economists estimate that the trade gap widened to $45.4 billion from a deficit of $44.2 billion in August.
