Crude Prices Modestly Higher on Data
NEW YORK (
) -- Crude oil prices were rising despite an Energy Department report that said stockpiles increased. Better-than-expected economic data on Wednesday helped support prices despite a stronger dollar.
The Energy Department said that crude oil inventories increased by 2 million barrels in the week ended Oct 29. That was more bearish than the industry's own estimate. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude oil stockpiles saw a draw of 4.14 million barrels. But the report was in line with projections of analysts surveyed by Platts.
Nymex crude futures was up by 22 cents at $84.12 around noon.
Wednesday morning saw a wave of better-than-expected economic data. The ADP National Employment Report said companies added 43,000 jobs in October, higher than the 23,000 jobs the Street was expecting. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index also rose to a more than expected 54.3% while factory orders rose 2.1% in September, according to the latest report from the Commerce Department.
Investors were however avoiding any big bets ahead of a statement from the
Federal Reserve
on Wednesday afternoon.
The Energy Department also reported a drop in both motor gasoline inventories and distillate stocks. Gasoline inventories shed 2.7 million barrels compared to a projected rise of 1.1 million barrels by the Platts Survey of Analysts. Distillates stocks saw a draw of 3.6 million barrels much higher than the 900,000 drop expected.
Gasoline futures were up 0.5% at $2.1201 per gallon while heating oil futures rose 0.8% to $2.3127 per gallon.
The
United States Oil Fund
(USO) - Get Report
was up 0.3%. Meanwhile energy stocks were trading in the red amid general market weakness ahead of the Fed announcement.
-- Written by Shanthi Venkataraman in New York
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