The price of crude oil was steady near $94 Thursday morning as traders speculated further monetary policy easing by Chinese officials after data showed a fall in Chinese consumer price inflation to a 30-month low in July
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries maintained its 2012 world oil demand growth forecast at 0.90 mbd and said the summer driving season, the summer heat, and the continued shutdown of most of Japan's nuclear capacity supported demand growth.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for September delivery, edged up $0.14 to $93.49 a barrel. Yesterday, oil leveled off from its 3-month high as traders preferred profit taking even after an Energy Information Administration report showed U.S. crude stockpiles to have declined more than expected last week.
Wednesday during trading hours, the EIA said that U.S. crude oil inventories dipped by 3.70 million barrels and gasoline stocks eased 1.80 million barrels in the weekended August 03.
This morning, the U.S. dollar moved back to a weekly high versus the euro, while trading higher against sterling. The buck continued to pare losses versus the Swiss franc, while moving lower against the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, U.K.'s visible trade gap widened to GBP 10.1 billion in June from GBP 8.4 billion in May, the Office for National Statistics said. The expected level of deficit was GBP 8.7 billion.
Traders will look to the data on trade balance from the U.S. Commerce Department at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists estimate that the trade gap narrowed to $47.5 billion in the month from a deficit of $48.7 billion in the previous month.
Simultaneously, the Labor Department will release its jobless claims report for the week ended August 04. Economists expect claims to edge up to 367,000 in the recent reporting week from 365,000 in the previous week.
by RTT Staff Writer
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