Crude oil hovers above 4-week low ahead of Fed , U.S. supply data

Investing.com - Crude oil futures held near the lowest level in four weeks on Tuesday, as investors shifted their focus to the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which begins later in the day, amid expectations the central bank will start tapering its USD85-billion-a-month bond-buying program.

Oil traders also looked ahead to the release of key U.S. weekly supply data to gauge the strength of oil demand from the world’s largest consumer.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at USD105.40 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, down 0.75%. The November contract settled 1.5% lower at USD106.59 a barrel on Monday.

New York-traded oil futures fell by as much as 1.35% earlier in the day to hit a session low of USD105.17 a barrel.

Oil futures were likely to find near-term support at USD105.06 a barrel, the low from September 1 and resistance at USD108.64 a barrel, the high from September 13.

Market analysts expect the Fed will start cutting monthly bond purchases by USD10 billion to USD75 billion when it concludes its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

Monthly purchases of Treasuries will be scaled back by USD10 billion to USD35 billion, while mortgage-bond buying will remain unchanged at USD40 billion.

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.

Oil traders also looked ahead to the release of fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of oil demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 1.4 million barrels.

Oil prices have been on a downward trend in recent sessions as diminishing fears over U.S. military intervention in Syria continued to weigh after the U.S. and Russia reached a diplomatic solution on how to handle Syria’s chemical weapons over the weekend.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed on a framework for Syria to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile by the middle of 2014.

Oil prices surged to a 27-month high of USD112.22 a barrel on August 28 amid indications the U.S. was close to taking military action against Bashar al-Assad’s government.

While Syria is not a major oil producer, investors fear that the two-year-old civil war could spill over to affect oil supplies in nearby countries.

Countries in the Middle East were responsible for nearly 35% of global oil production in 2012.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for October delivery tumbled 1% to trade at USD108.95 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD3.55 a barrel.

London-traded Brent futures were pressured amid easing concerns over a disruption to supplies from Libya.