Crude oil fell from the highest in four months as the U.S. Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday which might give clues on when the central bank could start tapering monetary stimulus as the strong data lately improved the outlook for recovery.
However, the rising tensions in the Middle East and the possible decline in U.S. crude oil stockpiles are preventing prices from falling further. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Europe that it will “pay the price” for arming rebels trying to oust him.
- Crude is trading as of this writing around $97.62 a barrel after falling $0.15
- Brent is trading around $105.54 a barrel after rising $0.07
Tomorrow’s U.S. Energy Information Administration report might show crude supplies fell 500,000 barrels last week; yet gasoline inventories probably climbed 500,000 barrels despite the start of the driving season, while distillates probably gained 925,000 barrels.
Today markets will also focus on the report by the American Petroleum Institute, ECB’s Draghi’s speech in Jerusalem, UK’s inflation data, Germany’s confidence data as well as the U.S. consumer prices and housing starts.
- Natural gas is trading at $3.895 per cubic feet after rising 0.52%
- Gasoline is trading at $2.8624 a gallon after rising 0.22%
- Heating oil is trading at $2.9485 a gallon after falling 0.27%