Forex Pros – Crude oil futures were up for the first time in four days on Tuesday, easing off a four-month low as investors entered the market on bargain buying, while a weaker U.S. dollar also lent support.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at USD91.12 a barrel during European morning trade, gaining 0.35%.
It earlier rose to USD91.41 a barrel, the highest price since June 24. Crude prices slumped to a four-month low of USD89.61 a barrel on Monday.
Worries about easing future demand expectations, as well as oversupply concerns in the wake of an emergency release of supplies from the International Energy Agency, have pressured oil prices in recent sessions.
Crude prices sank nearly 5.5% in the three sessions following last Thursday’s announcement from the IEA.
However, the sharp price decline triggered some bargain buying from traders reluctant to bet that prices would fall further amid expectations for a pick up in demand from the U.S. ahead of the July 4 weekend.
The U.S. Independence Day weekend is considered the peak gasoline consumption period.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.16% to trade at 75.65.
Dollar-denominated oil futures contracts tend to fall when the dollar rises, as this makes oil more expensive for buyers in other currencies.
Markets were awaiting fresh information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show stockpiles declined by 1.5 million barrels last week to 362.3 million barrels, a two-month low.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for August delivery advanced 0.35% to trade at USD106.91 a barrel, up USD15.79 on its U.S. counterpart.
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