Crude Oil Snaps Three Day Gain on Strengthening Dollar, Rising Crude Stockpiles

Crude oil declined for the first time in four days as a strengthening dollar curbed investor demand for raw materials and traders bet stockpiles in the U.S. are rising. Futures dropped as much as 0.6 percent as the dollar climbed against all but one of its 16 most traded peers. An Energy Department report today may show crude inventories increased by 1 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday stockpiles surged 6.43 million barrels.

“Oil continues to react to dollar movements,” said Ben Westmore, a minerals and energy economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne. “With seasonal maintenance and outages at refineries, I’d expect to see some build in crude stockpiles.” The December contract fell as much as 47 cents to $82.08 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $82.10 at 11:18 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday it added 3 cents to $82.55. Futures are up 3.6 percent this year.

The dollar advanced after the U.S. Conference Board said yesterday consumer confidence climbed in October from a seven month low. The greenback rose 0.3 percent versus the euro and the yen. The Energy Department report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington today may show gasoline stockpiles rose by 625,000 barrels last week, according to the Bloomberg News survey. The industry funded API reported yesterday that supplies of the motor fuel slipped 1.81 million barrels......Read the entire article.



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