The price of crude oil was moving higher Tuesday morning amid speculation that the European Central Bank would opt for further policy measures to tackle the euro zone debt crisis.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for October delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.65 to $96.91 a barrel. Yesterday, oil settled flat after US plans to release emergency oil reserves to control rising gasoline prices faced resistance from the International Energy Agency. Investors also weighed reports of increased Saudi Arabian oil production and growth in demand. The dollar dropped against most major currencies but continued to trade marginally higher against the euro.
This morning, the U.S. dollar slipped back near a two-week low versus the euro and the Swiss franc, while lingering around a three-week low against sterling. The buck was leveling off from its 5-week high versus the yen.
In economic news, the U.K. public sector net borrowing, excluding the temporary effects of financial interventions, increased in July, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Net borrowing was GBP 0.6 billion in July, which was GBP 3.4 billion higher than in July last year when PSNB was GBP 2.8 billion.
Today after the market hours, the API will release its U.S. crude oil inventories report for the weekended August 17.
by RTT Staff Writer
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