Crude Oil Ends Lower On Supply Data

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil pared much of the losses but still ended lower Thursday, after the Energy Information Administration's weekly oil report indicated crude stockpiles in the U.S. to have increased better than expected. Investors also weighed Federal Reserve chairwoman-designate Janet Yellen's statement that the central bank is in no hurry to taper down its quantitative easing program.

Crude oil prices also found support on the escalating tensions in Libya which threatens to disrupt supplies from the troubled nation.

The official Energy Information Administration weekly oil report showed U.S. crude oil inventories to have gained 2.60 million barrels, while gasoline stocks shed 0.80 million barrels in the week ended November 8. Analysts expected crude oil stocks to climb 1.0 million barrels and gasoline stocks to dip 300,000 barrels last week.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency in its monthly oil report said a seasonal upswing in demand could put upwards pressure on oil prices in the near-term. The IEA said that demand for oil products is on the verge of a seasonal increase and refineries should steeply raise the amount of oil they process in November and December.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $0.12 or 0.1 percent to close at $93.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Crude prices for December delivery scaled a high of $94.43 a barrel intraday and a low of $92.51.

Yesterday, oil recouped some of its previous session's losses ahead of the official weekly oil inventory report with investors optimistic of a dip in supplies and as news filtered in of protests in Libya disrupting supplies.

Wednesday after the market hours, the API said US crude oil inventories gained 599,000 barrels, while gasoline stocks shed 1.67 million barrels in the weekended November 08.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 81.05 on Thursday, up from 80.81 late Wednesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 81.21 intraday and a low of 80.74.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3453 on Thursday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3486 late Wednesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3497 intraday and a low of $1.3420.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 339,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 341,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to fall to 330,000 from the 336,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Separately, the Commerce Department said the nation's trade deficit widened to $41.8 billion in September from a revised $38.7 billion in August. Economists expected the deficit to widen to $39.1 billion. The wider than expected deficit came as the value of imports jumped 1.2 percent to $230.7 billion, while the value of exports edged down 0.2 percent to $188.9 billion.

Labor productivity in the U.S. rose by less than expected in the third quarter, a report from the Labor Department showed Thursday, while indicating a bigger than expected decrease in unit labor costs. The report said productivity increased by 1.9 percent in the third quarter compared to the 1.8 percent growth seen in the second quarter. Economists had expected productivity to jump by about 2.3 percent.

Elsewhere, the eurozone economy managed to expand in the third quarter, flash estimates from Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product was up 0.1 percent, down from the 0.3 percent quarterly growth posted in the preceding three months. This was the second consecutive expansion, in line with economists' expectations.

Meanwhile, the German economy grew 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, matching economists' expectation, official data showed. However, economic growth decelerated from the 0.7 percent expansion seen in the second quarter, Destatis said. The statistical office said positive contributions were made only by domestic demand in the third quarter of 2013 and the balance of exports and imports had a downward effect on GDP growth.

U.K. retail sales volume dropped 0.7 percent month-on-month in October due to a notable 1.3 percent fall in non-food store sales, the Office for National Statistics said. The drop in sales volume follows a 0.6 percent rise in September. It was forecast to remain flat in October.