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Crude oil slides as dollar gains on U.S. debt deal hopes

Published 10/15/2013, 09:56 AM
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Investing.com - Crude oil futures declined on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar gained on signs U.S. lawmakers may be close to striking a deal to raise the debt ceiling ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at USD101.48 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, down 0.9%.

New York-traded oil futures fell by as much as 1.15% earlier to hit USD101.25 a barrel. The November contract ended 0.38% higher at USD102.41 a barrel on Monday.

Oil futures were likely to find support at USD100.60 a barrel, the low from October 11 and resistance at USD103.57 a barrel, the high from October 10.

The dollar found support after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that “tremendous progress” had been made towards a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the federal government, fuelling hopes that a compromise can be reached.

If an agreement to raise the government borrowing limit is not struck ahead of Thursday’s deadline, the U.S. will face an unprecedented sovereign debt default.

However, any potential deal will still have to be approved by the House of Representatives, where Speaker John Boehner would have to decide whether to allow a vote or demand federal spending cuts.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.4% to trade at 80.71, the strongest level since September 18.

Dollar-denominated oil futures contracts tend to fall when the dollar rises, as this makes oil more expensive for buyers in other currencies.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for November delivery declined 0.75% to trade at USD110.20 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD8.72 a barrel.

Oil traders monitored talks between Western diplomats and Iranian officials in Geneva on Tuesday.

Diplomats from the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany met with their Iranian counterparts to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program. Talks are expected to resume on Wednesday, amid speculation sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation’s oil exports may be eased.

Western-led sanctions on Tehran have cut Iranian oil exports by more than 1 million barrels per day.

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