Crude falls on profit taking, soft U.S. economic indicators
Published Oct 29, 2013 02:04PM ET
Soft U.S. economic data fueled losses as well by painting a picture of a U.S. economy still battling headwinds on its road to recovery and in need of less fuel and energy than once anticipated.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD98.07 a barrel during U.S. trading, down 0.62%.
The commodity hit a session low of USD97.87 and a high of USD98.62. The December contract settled up 0.85% at USD98.68 a barrel on Monday.
Crude prices shot up on Tuesday amid Reuters reports that exports from Libya dropped to approximately 250,000 barrels per day, down from an overall capacity of 1.25 million barrels per day, due to labor protests disrupting operations at major oilfields and ports.
Profit taking ended that rally, especially after lackluster U.S. data hit the wire.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence dropped to 71.2 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 80.2 in September.
Analysts were expecting the index to fall to 75.0 this month.
The data came on the heels of Commerce Department data showing that U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% in September, while core retail sales, which exclude transportation items and gasoline, rose 0.4%, both in line with expectations.
Separately, the Labor Department reported that the country's producer price index contracted 0.1% in September, defying gains for a 0.2% gain.
Cushioning oil's losses were market expectations for the Federal Reserve to keep its ultra-loose monetary policies unchanged at a policy meeting this week, including its monthly USD85 billion in bond purchases.
Loose policies make oil an attractive commodity by weakening the greenback, thus bolstering the commodity's appeal on dollar-denominated commodities.
Meanwhile on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for November delivery were down 0.87% at USD108.66 a barrel, up USD10.59 from its U.S. counterpart.
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Written By: Investing.com
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