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Crude oil futures edge lower with U.S. vote, supply data in focus

Published 11/06/2012, 03:37 AM
Updated 11/06/2012, 03:37 AM

Investing.com - Crude oil futures edged modestly lower during European morning hours on Tuesday, as investors were hesitant to make large bets ahead of the U.S. presidential election and a leadership change in China.

Oil traders were also awaiting U.S. inventory data, amid concerns over demand lost in the U.S. Northeast after Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the region last week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD85.44 a barrel during European morning trade, shedding 0.25%.

New York-traded oil prices held in a tight trading range of USD85.80 a barrel, the daily high and a session low of USD85.43. Oil prices fell to a four-month low of USD84.36 a barrel on Monday.

Market participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of the start of voting in the U.S. presidential elections, with opinion polls pointing to a tight race between incumbent President Barack Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney.

Investors are also looking ahead to the start of the Chinese Communist Party Congress on Thursday, where a once-in-a-decade leadership change is to take place.

Greece remained on investors’ mind, as the country’s parliament prepared to vote on the latest rounds of austerity measures on Wednesday, which could determine if Athens receives its next tranche of financial aid.

Oil traders were also looking ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of oil demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 0.9 million barrels.

Worries over a slowdown in U.S. oil demand intensified after last week’s oil supply data showed that inventories exceeded 370 million barrels, the most for this time of year in at least 30 years.  

The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil-consuming country, responsible for almost 22% of global oil demand.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery declined 0.35% to trade at USD107.35 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD21.91 a barrel.

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