Oil Futures Open Mixed
NEW YORK (DTN) -- New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures opened mixed with a downside bias Tuesday morning as the dollar rallied despite fresh data that showed orders of long-lasting manufactured goods in the United States fell more than forecast last month.
The dollar shrugged off the report from the Commerce Department that showed U.S. durable goods orders fell 1.8% in May, pulled down by a drop in aircraft demand, and instead rallied to a better than one-week high. The dollar was already higher versus a basket of major currencies including the euro on growing optimism Greece would reach a deal with its creditors and avert a debt default.
At 9:00 AM ET, NYMEX August WTI contract opened down 41 cents at $59.97 barrels (bbl), with July contract having expired at the close of regular trade on Monday afternoon.
ICE August Brent futures opened 18 cents lower at $63.16 bbl, with spot-month Brent's premium over WTI futures narrowing 46 cents to $3.20 bbl at the open.
P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
In products trade, NYMEX July ULSD futures edged up 0.19 cents to a $1.8713 gallon open. NYMEX July RBOB futures dropped 1.57 cents to a $2.0140 gallon open, near a fresh two-week low at $2.0082.
On Wall Street, U.S. equities were higher on risk-on trade despite a stronger dollar. European stock indices also posted gains, boosted by the imminent Greek debt deal.
Greece wants to strike a deal with creditors by Wednesday after offering to raise taxes and the retirement age. Euro-zone leaders reacted positively to the offer.
"Oil prices are torn after stronger than expected [euro zone] manufacturing data and Greek optimism may lower the expectations for more economic stimulus but increase the outlook for demand," said analyst Phil Flynn at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
In London, research firm Markit said euro-zone manufacturing index jumped to 14-month high at 52.5 in June, up from 52.2 for May.
Earlier, HSBC's flash China purchasing managers' index for June indicated a contraction. The index rose to 49.6 in June from 49.2 in May, HSBC said, with figures below 50 signaling a contraction.
However, the U.S. Federal Reserve could delay raising the federal funds rate until later this year if demand for manufacturing goods is poor, analysts said, citing the weak durable goods data.
An early survey of analysts showed U.S. crude oil stockpiles are expected to have been drawn down by an average of 2.0 million bbl in the week-ended June 19, which would be the eighth consecutive draw. Gasoline stocks are seen to have eased by 300,000 bbl on average while distillate supplies are seen up 200,000 bbl on average, according to the survey.
The American Petroleum Institute will issue its weekly data at 4:30 PM ET while the Energy Information Administration will release its data at 10:30 AM ET Wednesday.
George Orwel can be reached at george.orwel@telventdtn.com
(BAS)
Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.
