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The Wall Street Journal reported that oil prices took a negative turn Wednesday following US inventory data that showed an unexpected increase in crude supplies.
The Wall Street Journal reported that oil prices took a negative turn Wednesday following US inventory data that showed an unexpected increase in crude supplies.
As quoted in the market news:
Commercial crude-oil stockpiles rose by 400,000 barrels in the week ended July 3, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a drop of 1 million barrels, and an industry group said late Tuesday that its own data for the same week also showed a stockpile decrease.
Crude inventories starting shrinking in April after hitting a record high, boosting prices, but the last two reports have surprised the market by showing stockpile builds.
“This puts some water on the fire,” said Donald Morton, senior vice president at Herbert J. Sims & Co., who oversees an energy-trading desk. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see this market slip back significantly by the end of the day.”
Light, sweet crude recently fell 62 cents, or 1.2%, to $51.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, slid 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $56.77 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.