Crude oil is seen trading near a three-week high on Tuesday amid hopes for further global stimulus measures that would boost demand.
Crude futures were little changed today, holding on to most of the gains from the previous session, when prices advanced 1.5% as U.S. equities rose to a record high.
The S&P 500 closed at a new record high Monday after a better-than-expected pending home sales report and Italy`s new prime minister named his cabinet.
Crude oil is on its way to end the month down nearly 3%, following a string of weak economic data from the United States and China.
- Crude oil is trading around the $94.20 a barrel level compared with the opening at $94.35, while the highest is at $94.45 and the lowest is at $94.17
- Brent is trading around $103.46 a barrel after falling 0.34% or $0.35
Confidence in the eurozone`s economy fell further in April according to yesterday’s data. Markets will pay even a greater attention to the ECB’s rate decision on Thursday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will later in the day kick off a two-day meeting; traders are eager to know if the bond buying program will be kept unchanged or not.
Markets will also be on the lookout for this week`s data from China, that may show factory activity expanded in April at its fastest pace in 12 months.
- Natural gas is trading at $4.368 per cubic feet after falling 0.55%
- Gasoline is trading at $2.827 a gallon after falling 0.02%
- Heating oil is trading at $2.8978 a gallon after falling 0.10%
Tomorrow's EIA report may show crude stockpiles probably increased by 1.1 million barrels last week to 389.7 million, the most since July 1990. This adds downside pressures on prices.