U.S. crude oil snapped a four-day gain to end sharply lower Wednesday, after a weekly oil report from the Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles to have dropped lesser than expected, while gasoline stocks rose more than expected. Oil prices also impacted after the U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke gave indications of slowing down its quantitative easing program in the near future.
An official weekly report from the EIA showed U.S. crude oil inventories to have dipped 0.30 million barrels, while gasoline stocks were up 3.00 million barrels in the week ended May 17. Analysts expected crude oil inventories to drop 1.2 million barrels last week, with gasoline stockpiles forecast to decrease 0.20 million barrels. Nonetheless, crude inventories at 395.5 million barrels were at its highest in at least 30 years.
Meanwhile, Bernanke's remarks before the Congress were seen as supportive of leaving the monetary policy unchanged in the near future, providing support for oil. Nevertheless, the Fed chief generated some negative sentiment after his testimony before the Congress indicated that upbeat economic data could lead the central bank to scale back its asset purchase program in the next few meetings.
Addressing the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, Bernanke said any "premature tightening of monetary policy could lead interest rates to rise temporarily but would also carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery and causing inflation to fall further."
Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, plunged $1.90 or 2.00 percent to close at $94.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.
Crude prices for July delivery scaled a high of $96.19 a barrel intraday and a low of $94.05.
Yesterday, oil settled lower as traders await cues from the Federal Open Market Committee policy meet outcome, due out later this week.
Tuesday after the market hours, the API said US crude oil inventories rose 532,000 barrels and gasoline stocks gained 3 million barrels in the week ended May 17.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 84.33 on Wednesday, up from 83.77 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 84.42 intraday and a low of 83.46.
The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.2844 on Wednesday, as compared to $1.2906 late Tuesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3000 intraday and a low of $1.2846.
In economic news from the U.S., the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales climbed 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in April from an upwardly revised 4.94 million in March. Economists had been expecting existing home sales to rise to an annual rate of 5.0 million from the 4.92 million originally reported for the previous month.
Elsewhere, the euro area current account surplus surged to 25.9 billion euros in March largely due to an increase in trade surplus, the European Central Bank reported. The current account surplus amounted to 14.6 billion euros in February. The trade in goods totaled 21.8 billion euros, up sharply from 11.5 billion euros a month ago. However, the surplus on trade in services fell to 7.6 billion euros from 8.4 billion euros.
Meanwhile, retail sales in the UK declined unexpectedly in April, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Retail sales volume, including auto fuel, fell 1.3 percent month-on-month in April against forecast for a 0.1 percent increase. Sales, excluding fuel, dropped 1.4 percent compared with an expected 0.1 percent growth.
The call for additional stimulus by Bank of England chief Mervyn King was overturned by other policymakers for the fourth consecutive month, minutes showed. As seen in previous months, King, Paul Fisher and David Miles sought an increase in quantitative easing by GBP 25 billion to GBP 400 billion.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.