The price of crude oil was ticking higher Thursday morning as traders await the release of today's economic data from the US that could provide some cues on Federal Reserve's timing on stimulus program.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for August delivery, edged up $0.10 to $95.60 a barrel. Yesterday, oil pared losses to end higher for a third straight session, after the official Energy Information Administration's weekly oil report showed U.S. stockpiles to have come in almost flat, even as analysts expected a decline.
Wednesday during trading hours, the EIA said that the US crude oil inventories remained largely unchanged, while gasoline stocks grew 3.7 million barrels in the weekended June 21.
This morning the U.S. dollar was trading steady near its one-month high versus the euro, sterling and the Swiss franc, while ticking higher versus the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's unemployment rate decreased from the previous month in May, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 percent in May from 5.4 percent in April. Compared to May 2012, the jobless rate slid 3.6 percent.
Euro zone economic confidence improved more than expected in June driven by brightening sentiment among consumers and managers, survey data from European Commission showed. The economic sentiment index rose to 91.3 in June from 89.5 a month ago. The reading exceeded the consensus forecast of 90.4.
The U.K. economy escaped recession in the first quarter as previously estimated, final data from the Office for National Statistics showed.. Gross domestic product expanded 0.3 percent in the first quarter, reversing last quarter's 0.2 percent contraction. Compared to the first quarter of 2012, the economy grew 0.3 percent, following nil growth in the prior quarter.
Traders will look to the weekly jobless claims data from the US Labor Department, due out at 8.30 a.m. ET. Economists expect claims to have declined to 345,000 from 354,000 in the previous week.
Simultaneously, the Commerce Department will release its personal income and spending for May. The consensus estimates call for a 0.2 percent month-over-month increase in personal income and a 0.4 percent climb in personal spending.
Later during the trading session, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its pending home sales index for May. Economists expect the index to have risen 1 percent for May following a 0.3 percent increase in April.
