LONDON--Crude-oil futures were little changed Tuesday in choppy trade
as China's better-than-expected manufacturing activity figures were
counter-balanced by a new set of downbeat news from the euro zone.
At 1103 GMT, the front-month September Brent contract on London's ICE
futures exchange was 24 cents, or 0.2%, lower at $103.02 a barrel. The
front-month September contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was
trading down 15 cents, or 0.2%, at $87.99 per barrel.
Overnight data from China showed that manufacturing activity in the
world's second-largest oil consumer shrank less in July than forecast
by analysts.
"It's hard to call these numbers very bullish [for the oil market],
but they are definitely less bearish," said Torbjorn Kjus, oil market
analyst at DnB NOR.
"The preliminary purchasing managers' indices from the euro zone, on
the other hand, remain persistently at recession level and are thus
likely to counter any stronger price recovery," Commerzbank said in a
note.
Worries that a sharp economic slowdown would cut global demand for oil
have pressured crude futures for months.
At 1300 GMT, the U.S. July manufacturing activity data will be
published, and the numbers could move oil prices significantly as the
U.S. is the world's largest oil consumer, Mr. Kjus said.
Market participants will also focus on a weekly U.S. oil inventories
survey published by the American Petroleum Institute, an industry
body, at 2030 GMT.
"If Brent can hold to $102.50 a barrel, then it can still hope at
another attempt on $105 a barrel," Petromatrix said in a note.
But if the $102.50-a-barrel level can't hold, then Brent will have to
move back to $100.75 a barrel for a strong line of support, before the
$100-a-barrel level, it said.
At 1103 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for August delivery was down
$7.50, or 0.9%, at $887.25 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for
August delivery was 299 points, or 1%, lower at $2.8530 per gallon.
Write to Konstantin Rozhnov at konstantin.rozhnov@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 24, 2012 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT)
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