Crude oil futures extend gains after U.S. data

Forex Pros – Crude oil futures extended gains on Tuesday, after a flurry of economic data from the U.S. and China eased concerns over a slowdown in oil demand from the world’s two largest consumers.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD97.70 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, climbing 0.86%.     

It earlier rose to a daily high of USD97.78 a barrel.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said producer prices rose 0.2% in May, taking the annual inflation rate to 7.3%, more than the 6.8% forecasted increase.

Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that core retail sales, which exclude volatile automobile sales, rose 0.3% in May, after rising a downwardly revised 0.5% in April. Analysts had expected core retail sales to increase by 0.2% in May.

Also Tuesday, Chinese government data showed that industrial production expanded 13.3% in May, beating expectations for a 13.1% increase.

Chinese refiners processed 38.47 million metric tons of crude in May, 6% more than a year earlier, the data showed. Gasoline output climbed 3.6% and diesel production rose 8.2%.

China's implied oil demand in May topped the 9-million-barrel-per-day mark for the seventh month in a row.

A separate report showed that that consumer price inflation rose at the fastest pace since July 2008 in May, climbing at an annualized rate of 5.5%, broadly in line with expectations. 

Markets were also awaiting fresh information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show stockpiles declined by 1.5 million barrels last week.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for July delivery jumped 1.03% to trade at USD119.39 a barrel, up USD21.69 on its U.S. counterpart.

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