WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - The price of crude oil was little changed Wednesday morning as traders await cues from the official inventories data and the minutes of the FOMC meeting, due out later today.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for January delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged up USD0.10 to USD93.99 a barrel. Yesterday oil settle higher after fluctuating for much of the session, ahead of the official inventories report. Investors also await the outcome of the Federal Reserve policy meet, with expectations the Fed would refrain from tapering its USD85 billion quantitative easing program soon. The eruption of violence in Libya has also renewed fears of supply disruption from the region, with uncertainties over the upcoming talks with Iran.
Tuesday after the market hours, the API said US crude oil inventories gained 512,000 barrels in the weekended November 15.
This morning the US dollar was hovering around its 2-week high versus the euro and sterling, while trading near its 2-month high against the yen. The buck was lingering around its 3-week low versus the Swiss franc.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's producer prices declined for the third successive month in October, and at a faster pace than expected by economics, latest data showed. The industrial producer price index decreased 0.7 percent on an annual basis in October, following the 0.5 percent drop seen in September, the Federal Statistical Office said. Prices have fallen for the third month in a row. Economist had forecast a slower decline of 0.6 percent for October.
Elsewhere, the Bank of England policymakers unanimously decided to retain the record-low interest rate and the asset purchase programme at GBP 375 billion, the minutes of the meeting revealed. All nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to retain the interest rate at 0.50 percent at the meeting held on November 6 and 7.
Traders will look to the inflation report from the US Labor Department due out at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect the consumer price index to have remained unchanged compared to the previous month, while core consumer prices may have risen 0.2 percent.
Simultaneously, the Commerce Department is due to release its retail sales report for October. The consensus estimates call for an unchanged reading for retail sales and a 0.1 percent month-over-month increase for retail sales, excluding autos.
Later during the session, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its existing home sales report for October. Existing home sales for the month are estimated to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.13 million units.
Today during trading hours, the EIA will release its US crude oil inventories report for the weekended November 15. Analysts expect crude oil inventories to rise 0.70 million barrels last week.
