The price of crude oil was extending its three-month high Monday morning after the US plans to release emergency oil reserves to control rising gasoline prices faced resistance from the International Energy Agency.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for October delivery, the most actively traded contract, added $0.05 to $96.37 a barrel. Last week, oil settled at a 3-month high on supply concerns with tension brewing in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia advised its citizens to get out of Lebanon and Israel indicating its willingness to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Oil prices were also supported by a dollar that traded lower against most major currencies.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was hovering near its two-week high versus the euro and ticking higher against sterling. The buck was steady around its 5-week high versus the yen and moving higher against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone construction output declined for the third consecutive month in June, Eurostat reported. In the construction sector, seasonally adjusted production dropped 0.5 percent from a month ago, when it fell 0.2 percent. Building construction was down 0.1 percent after staying flat in May. Likewise, civil engineering fell by 0.7 percent compared to a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month
During this week traders focus will be on the weekly jobless claims report, the Commerce Department's durable goods orders report for July and the minutes of the latest FOMC minutes, apart from a trio of housing reports on new home sales, existing home sales and house prices, which have the potential to move the markets.
Also, focus will be on the crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Tuesday after the market hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day.
by RTT Staff Writer
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