The price of crude oil was moving higher Monday morning after data over the weekend revealed that China's manufacturing activity rose to a seven-month high in November on improved new orders and production, mirroring signs of stabilization in the second-largest economy.
The Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.6 from 50.2 in October, official survey jointly issued by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics showed Saturday. The sector expanded for the second straight month.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for January delivery, edged up $0.11 to $89.02 a barrel. Last week oil edged up marginally on some upbeat macroeconomic economic data and optimism of a deal in the U.S. budget talks. President Barack Obama expressed confidence over a deal, indicating that he was hopeful the White House and Congress could reach an agreement before Christmas.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was extending its one month low versus the euro and sterling. The buck was leveling off firm around its 7-month high versus the yen and ticking lower against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, the downturn in the euro zone manufacturing sector eased as estimated in November, final data from Markit Economics showed. The final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to an eight-month month high of 46.2, in line with flash estimate. The reading was 45.4 in October.
Separately, the agency said that the German manufacturing sector shrank as estimated earlier in November, but the rate of contraction eased from the previous month. The seasonally adjusted PMI for the manufacturing sector increased to 46.8 in November from 46 in October, as recorded in the preliminary reports.
Traders will look to the results of the manufacturing survey of the Institute for Supply Management, due out at 10 am ET. Economists expect the index to show a reading of 51.7 for November, flat with last month.
Simultaneously, the Commerce Department will release its construction spending report, which is expected to show a 0.4 percent increase in October, slower than the 0.6 percent increase in the previous month.
During this week, focus will be on the non-farm payrolls data, the ADP's private sector payroll numbers, the weekly jobless claims data and the results of the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing and non-manufacturing surveys for November.
Also, focus will be on the crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Tuesday after the market hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day.
