Crude oil slides lower as Fed meeting dominates
Investing.com
Published Jul 30, 2013 10:33AM ET
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at USD103.53 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, down 0.97%.
The September contract settled down 0.14%, at USD104.55 a barrel on Monday.
Oil prices came under pressure as the U.S. dollar strengthened ahead of the Fed's upcoming monetary policy statement on Wednesday. A recent string of U.S. economic reports fuelled uncertainty over whether the central bank will soon begin to scale back its bond-buying program.
Earlier Tuesday, the Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence fell to 80.3 in July, from a reading of 82.1 the previous month, compared to expectations for a decline to 81.4.
The report came after data showed that the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Composite-20 house price index rose to an annualized rate of 12.2% in May, from 12.1% the previous month, compared to expectations for an increase to 12.4%.
The Fed’s stimulus program is viewed by many investors as a key driver in boosting the price of commodities as it tends to depress the value of the dollar.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil-consuming country, responsible for almost 22% of global oil demand.
However, possible supply disruptions in the Middle-East still supported oil prices, after assailants attacked an Islamist party office in Tripoli on Monday and a soldier was killed in fighting in Benghazi.
Separately, ongoing protests in Egypt continued to fuel worries the conflict may spill over into other countries in the region.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for September delivery fell 0.27% to trade at USD107.17 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD3.64 a barrel.
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Written By: Investing.com
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