Crude Oil Ends Higher, But Still Below $48 A Barrel

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a four-day straight loss to end higher on Tuesday, but still remained below the $48-mark, ahead of the official weekly oil report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration with traders anticipating a decline in stockpiles.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly crude oil report on Wednesday, while the American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly oil late Tuesday.

Nevertheless, gains made by crude oil were somewhat limited amid concerns over Chinese demand and rising supplies. Chinese stocks have plunged this summer, an indication of lessening demand from one of the world's largest consumers of energy products.

Meanwhile, easing geopolitical tensions could see even more oil flow into markets as Iran ramps up production.

Investors are also closely monitoring the 2-day Federal Reserve meeting that kicked off today, with the monetary policy announcement expected tomorrow. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged on the conclusion of its 2-day meet on Wednesday, with investors firmly focused on the Fed statement for any hints about the timing of the first rate hike.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for September delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.59 or 1.2 percent, to settle at $47.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Crude prices for September delivery scaled a high of $48.44 a barrel intraday and a low of $46.68.

On Monday, crude oil futures for September delivery fell $0.75 or 1.6 percent, to settle at $47.39 a barrel, on supply glut worries and demand growth concerns after global equity markets ended deeply in the red, with the Shanghai stock market plummeting over 8 percent.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 96.67 on Tuesday, up from its previous close of 96.54 in late North American trade on Monday. The dollar scaled a high of 96.97 intraday and a low of 96.47.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.1060 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.1090 in North American trade late Monday. The euro scaled a high of $1.1100 intraday and a low of $1.1023.

On the economic front, a Standard & Poor's report on Tuesday showed the annual rate of price growth during May to be well below economist estimates, with home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas unexpectedly declining.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose 4.9 percent year-over-year in May, reflecting a modest slowdown from the upwardly revised 5.0 percent growth seen in April. Economists expected the annual rate of price growth to accelerate to 5.6 percent from the 4.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Confidence among U.S. consumers has seen a substantial deterioration in the month of July, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 90.9 in July from a downwardly revised 99.8 in June. Economists expected the index to show a much more modest decrease to a reading of 99.6 from the 101.4 originally reported for the previous month.

A measure of future economic activity in Eurozone rose for the seventh successive month in June, signaling a modest recovery in economic activity through the balance of the year, the Conference Board said Monday. The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index, or LEI, for the euro area increased 0.4 percent to 107.1, after a 0.3 percent rise in May. In April, the index rose by 0.5 percent.

French unemployment rose marginally to a fresh record in June, data released by the labor ministry revealed late Monday. The number of unemployed increased 1,300 in June from the prior month to 3.55 million. From a year ago, it rose by 4.7 percent.

U.K. economic growth accelerated in the second quarter driven by an improvement in services output, which has again fueled debate over the timing of the interest rate hike. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent sequentially, in line with forecast, following a 0.4 percent rise in the first quarter, preliminary estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.

House price inflation in England and Wales reached its 3-month high in June, after easing in the previous nine months, data from the Land Registry showed Tuesday. The house price index rose 5.4 percent year-over-year in June, faster than previous month's 4.6 percent climb. The latest rate of inflation was the highest since March, when prices grew the same 5.4 percent.