Crude Ends Below $100 On Yellen's Statement

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a five-day gain to end lower Tuesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, with investors awaiting the official inventories data due Wednesday. The Fed Chief in her testimony said she would continue with the policies of her predecessor Ben Bernanke while gradually tapering the monthly bond-buying program. Nonetheless, Yellen indicated an overall accommodative policy.

In her first public remarks since taking over the top job at the Fed, Yellen said it would take a "significant deterioration" in the economic outlook or a risk of deflation to delay its slow exit from bond-buying. The Fed is currently pumping $65 billion a month into markets, down from $85 billion in early December.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for March delivery, the most actively traded contract, slipped $0.12 or 0.1 percent to close at $99.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Crude prices for March delivery scaled a high of $100.49 a barrel intraday and a low of $99.60.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.63 on Tuesday, down from its previous close of 80.64 late Monday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.67 intraday and a low of 80.45.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3639 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3646 late Monday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3689 intraday and a low of $1.3630.

In economic news, wholesale inventories in the U.S. rose 0.3 percent in December after rising by 0.5 percent in November. Economists expected an increase of 0.5 percent. The modest growth reflects a 1.3 percent increase in durable goods inventories, due partly to a 5.3 percent jump in inventories of computer equipment.

The National Federation of Independent Business's small business optimism index in the U.S. crept higher in January. A gauge of retailer sentiment, the index rose to 94.1 from 93.9 the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry expressed concerns about political uncertainty as the nation enters a lengthy election campaign. The business lobby projects 2.6 percent growth this year, up from its November forecast of 2.4 percent, which reflects a stronger-than-expected economic performance at the tail end of 2013.

For 2015, the Confederation estimates 2.5 percent expansion, slightly down from 2.6 percent forecast in November, which are broadly in line with estimates of a wide range of forecasters. Quarter-on-quarter, gross domestic product growth is expected at 0.6 percent this year, and quarterly growth rates of around 0.6 percent to 0.7 percent in 2015.