The price of crude oil was moving lower Friday morning amid concerns over demand growth even as traders fret over the US budget dead lock.
Traders continued to monitor the U.S. Government's progress on its budget and debt ceiling, which will reach its borrowing limit of $16.7 trillion mid October. The debt ceiling has to be raised by Congress by that time, but currently there is no consensus between the White House and the Republican lawmakers on the issue.
Meanwhile, tensions over the middle-east supply situation eased after the U.S. and Russia agreed on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for November delivery, shed $0.64 to $102.39 a barrel. Yesterday, oil snapped its five-session losing streak to settle higher mostly on some bargain hunting, notwithstanding a strong dollar and the brightening supply prospects with easing tensions in the Middle East, including Iran. Investors also weighed some mixed economic data and the better than expected increase in U.S. crude oil stockpiles last week.
This morning the U.S. dollar was lingering around its eight-month low versus the euro, the Swiss franc and sterling, while trading flat against the yen.
In economic news, euro zone economic confidence rose more than expected in September with markedly improved confidence across all business sectors, the European Commission said. The economic sentiment index climbed to 96.9 in September from 95.3 in August. It stayed above consensus of 96. Among components, improvements in construction and retail trade were particularly pronounced.
Elsewhere, house prices in the UK increased at a faster pace in September, a survey by the Nationwide Building Society showed. The house price index rose 0.9 percent month-on-month in September, faster than a 0.7 percent increase in August. The gain was stronger than the expected 0.5 percent increase.
From the U.S., the Commerce Department will release its personal income and spending report for August at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect personal income growth of 0.4 percent month-over-moth, while personal spending may have risen by 0.3 percent.
Later during the session, Reuters and the University of Michigan are due to release the final estimate of their U.S. consumer sentiment index for September. The consensus estimates call for an upward revision to 78 from the preliminary estimate of 76.8.
