June Nymex WTI crude oil is currently trading modestly lower Tuesday at $97.68 a barrel down 26 cents on the session. Monday afternoon saw prices dip to $96.42 before recovering sharply up to a high of $98.18 amid an improving tone in equity markets. Since the recovery, prices have been seen in a range between $98.09 and $97.69. Attention today will be on weekly crude oil inventory data to be released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) where expectation is for a 2.2 million barrel build for the week ending May 4, according to a poll of analysts conducted by Platts. The API data is due later today, whilst EIA’s weekly statistics are out Wednesday. For the second consecutive week, analysts polled were unanimous in expecting U.S. crude stocks to rise. Likewise, the five-year average of EIA data for the week ending May 4 show crude stocks increasing by 2.45 million barrels, in line with analyst’s expectations, Platts says.
EasyForexNews Research Team