Oil futures mixed ahead of EIA data

Crude-oil futures were mixed in Asian trade Wednesday with Brent crude still pressured by yesterday’s weak economic data from Europe, while U.S. oil markets await weekly stockpile reports.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November CLX4, +0.09%  traded at $91.67 a barrel at last check, up $0.11 in the Globex electronic session.

November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange LCOX4, -0.04%  fell $0.10 to $96.75 a barrel.

Relatively stronger economic data from the U.S. explains why the U.S. dollar BUXX, -0.17%  has been climbing in recent weeks, contributing to a risk-off trade flow across a broad range of commodities, analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures said.

He said with the oil market already oversold, crude prices are unlikely to break down in a dramatic fashion, but the Brent crude contract for November delivery could continue to grind lower in line with its declining price trend.

Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute — a trade group — said its data showed a 6.5-million-barrel drop in U.S. crude stocks in the week ended Sept. 19, while stocks of gasoline rose by 91,000 barrels and distillates rose by 3 million barrels.

The closely watched survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later Wednesday. Analysts expect U.S. oil inventories to have risen by 500,000 barrels.

Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for October RBV4, -0.33%  — the benchmark gasoline contract — fell 87 points to $2.6200 a gallon, while October diesel traded at $2.6750, 82 points lower.

Source: marketwatch.com

Oil Price Mixed in Asian Trade

Oil prices were mixed in Asia Tuesday following weak economic data from top energy consumers the United States and China, and as dealers await a key US Federal Reserve meeting.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery was down 16 cents at $92.76, while Brent crude for November rose seven cents to $97.95 in afternoon trade. Brent's October contract expired Monday at $96.65, its lowest level since June 2012.

Singapore's United Overseas Bank said "investors continued to fret over anaemic oil demand growth" after the release of US data on Monday.

US industrial production unexpectedly fell in August by 0.1 percent, after six months of gains. Manufacturing output meanwhile fell 0.4 percent.

The data came after China reported over the weekend that growth in industrial production fell sharply to 6.9 percent in August, the slowest pace in more than five years.

Analysts said investors were awaiting the highly anticipated two-day meeting of the Fed's policy-making committee that begins Tuesday.

They are concerned by the prospect the Fed will begin hiking interest rates sooner than expected, and will be scrutinising statements by the bank's chief Yellen on Wednesday.

The Fed has previously said it would keep interest rates low for a considerable time after ending its massive stimulus programme, based on continued weakness in the labour market.

Its once $85 billion-a-month bond buying programme is expected to be fully wound down by the end of October.

Source: yahoo.com