OIl Inches Up Ahead Of Supply Data

Oil........

Crude oil futures inched up above $ 97 a barrel ahead of the weekly US inventory data from API today which are expected to show a decline. Light sweet crude oil futures for July delivery added 6 cents to $97.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices on Monday reversed course and fell 8 cents. Most Asian markets retreated Tuesday in choppy trade as investors pondered whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will maintain its monthly bond purchases, with Hong Kong stocks dragged lower by a drop in mainland Chinese property and banking shares. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9%, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 0.7%, and Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 0.1%. Bernanke is scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday after the conclusion of the Fed’s two-day policy meeting, which will start later Tuesday. Also, data due out later Tuesday are projected to show U.S. commercial crude-oil stocks declined 1 million barrels for the week ended June 14, according to a Platts survey of analysts. The decline is expected to stem from a reduction in crude-oil imports, which have been volatile recently. The American Petroleum Institute is slated to issue its weekly report at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. More closely watched figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) are due Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. A drawdown of 1 million barrels would be “more than double seasonal norms,” with the EIA’s five-year average showing oil stocks typically fall by about 400,000 barrels during this reporting period, according to Platts. Reports on crude-oil inventory released last week were bearish, with both the API and EIA reporting supply increases, even as analysts had expected no change in inventory levels. MCX August crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 5680 levels with resistance near Rs 5720 levels. Source by Commodity Insights