Investing.com – Crude oil futures erased gains in choppy trade on Wednesday, amid concerns over a slowdown in demand from the U.S. and China, the world’s largest oil consumers.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD102.39 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, easing down 0.22%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.6% to USD103.31 a barrel, the highest price since May 11.
Payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. non-farm payrolls rose just 38K in May, on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing by a downwardly revised 177K the previous month. Analysts had expected non-farm payrolls to rise by 178K last month.
Meanwhile, official data showed that manufacturing activity in China slowed in May, marking its second consecutive monthly decline, while the HSBC China PMI for May fell to a 10-month low of 51.6 from 51.8 in April.
China is the world’s second largest crude oil consumer, with the International Energy Agency forecasting that China will account for approximately 40% of global oil demand growth in 2011.
Oil remained supported as the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.27% trading at 74.47, after earlier dropping to a four-week low of 74.42.
Dollar-denominated oil futures contracts tend to rise when the dollar falls, as this makes oil cheaper for buyers in other currencies.
Markets were also awaiting fresh information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The American Petroleum Institute was to release its inventories report later in the day, while Thursday’s government report could show stockpiles declined by 1.8 million barrels last week.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for July delivery dipped 0.35% to trade at USD116.14 a barrel, up USD12.85 on its U.S. counterpart.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD102.39 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, easing down 0.22%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.6% to USD103.31 a barrel, the highest price since May 11.
Payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. non-farm payrolls rose just 38K in May, on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing by a downwardly revised 177K the previous month. Analysts had expected non-farm payrolls to rise by 178K last month.
Meanwhile, official data showed that manufacturing activity in China slowed in May, marking its second consecutive monthly decline, while the HSBC China PMI for May fell to a 10-month low of 51.6 from 51.8 in April.
China is the world’s second largest crude oil consumer, with the International Energy Agency forecasting that China will account for approximately 40% of global oil demand growth in 2011.
Oil remained supported as the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.27% trading at 74.47, after earlier dropping to a four-week low of 74.42.
Dollar-denominated oil futures contracts tend to rise when the dollar falls, as this makes oil cheaper for buyers in other currencies.
Markets were also awaiting fresh information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The American Petroleum Institute was to release its inventories report later in the day, while Thursday’s government report could show stockpiles declined by 1.8 million barrels last week.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for July delivery dipped 0.35% to trade at USD116.14 a barrel, up USD12.85 on its U.S. counterpart.