Crude Oil Ends Lower Ahead Of Supply Data, OPEC Meet

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a two-day gain to end slightly lower on Tuesday, tracking declining U.S. equity markets and ahead of the official weekly oil report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the upcoming Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Vienna.

Crude oil prices rose to its highest in more than a year Tuesday morning with investors looking ahead to the outcome of the Wednesday's OPEC meeting in Vienna. It is expected that OPEC will probably maintain its production target at 30 million barrels a day.

On the economic front, Chinese inflation accelerated more than expected to a level last seen in January on higher food prices, while producer prices declined at a slower pace for the second month in May. Meanwhile, wholesale inventories in the U.S. increased much more than expected in April, partly due to some continued growth in inventories of non-durable goods.

Meanwhile, the weekly oil report from the American Petroleum Institute is due later in the day, with the official crude stockpiles data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration due Wednesday.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, slipped $0.06 to close at $104.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Crude prices for July delivery scaled a high of $105.06 a barrel intraday and a low of $103.98.

On Monday, crude oil futures surged to a three-month high amid hopes of increased demand for oil, with signs of significant global recovery after some encouraging data in the last two weeks.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.84 on Tuesday, up from its previous close of 80.62 late Monday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.87 intraday and a low of 80.55.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3545 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3594 late Monday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.3601 intraday and a low of $1.3534.

On the economic front, Chinese inflation rose to a 5-month high of 2.5 percent in May, but still below the government's target of 3.5 percent. Inflation was pushed up largely by rising food inflation with food prices rising 4.1 percent, while non-food prices gained only 1.7 percent in May.

In economic news from the U.S., a report from the Labor Department showed wholesale inventories to have increased by a more than expected 1.1 percent in April, matching the increase seen in the previous month. Economists expected inventories to increase by about 0.5 percent.

Additionally, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales increased by 1.3 percent in April after jumping by 1.6 percent in March.

In Europe, U.K. industrial production expanded notably in April, a sign the sector has started the second quarter on a strong footing. Industrial output gained 0.4 percent in April from March, when it grew by a revised 0.1 percent, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. This was the third consecutive rise and matched economists' expectations.