The price of crude oil was steady near its multi-month high Wednesday morning as traders fret over supply situation following tensions in Syria. Also, traders await cues from the official crude oil inventories data, due out later today.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for October delivery, gained $0.69 to $109.70 a barrel. Yesterday, oil jumped nearly 3 percent to settle at a 6-month high on concerns over the geopolitical tensions brewing in Syria with reports that the U.S. and its allies may be considering military intervention, fueling fears the trouble could spread across the region and disrupt oil supplies from the Middle East.
Tuesday after the market hours, the API said US crude oil inventories rose 2.50 million barrels, while gasoline stocks shed 1.1 million barrels in the weekended August 23.
This morning the U.S. dollar continued to hover near its one-week high versus the euro and the Swiss franc, while extending gains against sterling and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, a forward-looking indicator of German consumer confidence declined unexpectedly in September, reports said citing results of a survey by market research group GfK The consumer confidence indicator for September scored 6.9, down from August's six-year high reading of 7. Economists expected the index to rise to 7.1.
Elsewhere, U.K. retail sales volume grew at the strongest pace since November 2012, the Distributive Trades Survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed. According to the survey, 49 percent of respondents reported that sales volumes were up on a year ago, while 22 percent said they were down, giving a balance of +27 percent. The August's level exceeded the consensus of 20 percent.
Traders will look to the pending home sales index for July from the National Association of Realtors, due out at 10 a.m. ET. Economists estimate a 1 percent month-over-month drop in pending home sales
Today during trading hours, the EIA will release its US crude oil inventories report for the weekended August 23. Analysts expect crude oil inventories to decline by 0.30 million barrels last week.
