U.S. crude oil snapped a two-day gain to end slightly higher on Tuesday, as the dollar continued to weaken against a select band of currencies and ahead of the official weekly oil report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the American Petroleum Institute.
Nevertheless, the interest rate decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve and concerns over the fighting in Yemen checked crude oil’s uptick, even as Saudi Arabia stubbornly vowing to keep producing oil at a breakneck pace despite mounting global inventories.
Saudi Arabia again showed its willingness to keep prices low in a bid to hurt non-OPEC competition.
“Saudi Arabia is interested in maintaining its share in the market and interested in keeping its customers,” oil minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg. “We will supply any demand for Saudi oil, as we are interested in the stability of the market. Stability includes price, supply and demand stability.”
Meanwhile, investors await the latest on interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. If the Fed signals a rate hike this summer, the dollar is expected to rise, weighing on crude oil and other commodities.
The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its weekly inventories report late Tuesday, while the Energy Information Administration’s report will be out Wednesday.
Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, added $0.07 or 0.1 percent, to settle at $57.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.
Crude prices for June delivery scaled a high of $57.83 a barrel intraday and a low of $56.07.
On Monday, crude oil dropped dropped $0.16 or 0.3 percent, to settle at $56.99 a barrel, as investors focused this week’s interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve, even as growing concerns the fighting in Yemen could disrupt crude supplies persisted.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 96.10 on Tuesday, down from its previous close of 96.86 on Monday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 96.93 intraday and a low of 96.01.
The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.0979 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.0890 in North American trade late Monday. The euro scaled a high of $1.0991 intraday and a low of $1.0863.
In economic news, annual growth in home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas accelerated more than expected in February, a report from Standard & Poor’s showed Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index jumped 5.0 percent year-over-year in February compared to a downwardly revised 4.5 percent increase in January. Economists expected the growth to accelerate to 4.7 percent from the 4.6 percent originally reported for the previous month.
A Conference Board report on Tuesday showed its U.S. consumer confidence index unexpectedly pulled back sharply in April, after reporting a significant rebound in the previous month. The U.S. consumer confidence index tumbled to 95.2 in April from an upwardly revised 101.4 in March. Economists expected the index to climb to a reading of 102.5.
The British economy expanded at the slowest pace since 2012, reflecting contraction in construction and industrial activity, preliminary estimate published by the Office for National Statistics revealed Tuesday. Gross domestic product expanded 0.3 percent sequentially during the January to March period, the slowest growth since the fourth quarter of 2012. It was forecast to slow marginally to 0.5 percent from the 0.6 percent logged in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Loans approved for house purchase in the U.K. rose to the highest level in six months during March, data from the British Bankers’ Association showed Tuesday. The number of loans approved for house purchase climbed to 38,751 from 37,453 in March. Economists had expected an increase in the figure to 38,700.
French consumer confidence strengthened to its highest level since January 2010, survey data from the statistical office Insee revealed Tuesday. The consumer confidence index rose to 94 in April, the highest level since January 2010, from 93 in March. The reading was in line with expectations.
French unemployment rose to a record high in March, data released by the labor ministry revealed Monday. The number of unemployed increased 15,400 or 0.4 percent from February to 3.51 million in March.
The total value of retail sales in Japan tumbled 9.7 percent on year in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday – coming in at 12.396 trillion yen. That missed forecast for a decline of 7.5 percent following the 1.7 percent contraction in February.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com