Forexpros – Crude oil futures were off in choppy trade Wednesday as the market juggled offsetting sentiments, as ongoing Middle East tensions sought to push prices higher while sluggish economic indicators out of the U.S. sought to pull prices down.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at USD101.02 a barrel, down 0.06%.
The commodity hit an earlier session high of USD101.47 and a low of USD101.00.
Iran continues developing a nuclear program despite sanctions, and tensions flared when Israel accused the Middle Eastern giant of masterminding recent attacks on its embassies in Georgia and India.
In Syria, the government continues violent crackdowns on dissenters, which had nerves on edge as well.
However in the U.S., retail sales came in weaker than expected, which offset geopolitical tensions pulling the commodity upwards.
U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in January after finishing flat in December, the Commerce Department said.
Markets were expecting a gain of 0.8%.
Furthermore, renewed fears that Greece may run into opposition from European Union authorities in its quest for bailout money further offset oil’s rise.
E.U. officials remained skeptical of the level of government support for recently approved austerity measures needed for assistance funding.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery were down 0.09% and trading at USD117.56 a barrel, up USD16.54 from its U.S. counterpart.
The gap in price between the two contracts is pushing very close toward the higher end of a range between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.
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