Crude Oil Settles Below $102 On Supply Data

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil ended lower for a fifth straight session Wednesday, after a report from the Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles in the U.S. to have risen more than expected last week. With easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and Iran and the U.S. on a dialogue, supply concerns have significantly faded.

Latest data from the EIA revealed that US crude oil inventories moved up 2.6 million barrels and gasoline stocks added 0.20 million barrels in the week ended September 20. Analysts expected U.S. crude oil inventories to drop by 1.1 million barrels, while gasoline stocks were anticipated to add 0.1 million barrels last week.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for November delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.47 or 0.5 percent to close at $102.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.

Crude prices for November delivery scaled a high of $103.96 a barrel intraday and a low of $102.40.

Yesterday, oil settled lower at near 2-month low as supply concerns faded with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East easing considerably, coupled with signs of thawing relations between Iran and the U.S.

Tuesday after the market hours, the API said U.S. crude oil inventories declined 54,000 barrels, while gasoline stocks added 341,000 barrels in the week ended September 20.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.35 on Wednesday, down from 80.59 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.63 intraday and a low of 80.29.

The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.3523 on Wednesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3473 late Tuesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3537 intraday and a low of $1.3462.

In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said durable goods orders edged up by 0.1 percent in August after tumbling by a revised 8.1 percent in July. Economists expected orders to drop by 0.5 percent compared to the 7.4 percent decrease reported for the previous month. However, excluding a 0.7 percent increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods order dipped by 0.1 percent in August compared to a 0.5 percent drop in July.

In a separate report, the U.S. Commerce Department said new home sales jumped 7.9 percent to an annual rate of 421,000 in August from the revised July rate of 390,000. Economists expected new home sales to climb to 420,000 from the 394,000 originally reported for the previous month.

From the eurozone, German consumer sentiment will likely continue to improve in October, reports citing results of a survey published by GfK said. The headline consumer confidence index for October scored 7.1, up from September's revised reading of 7. Economists had forecast the index to score 7, higher than the previous month's initial reading of 6.9.