Oil closed sharply lower on Tuesday in U.S. trading as investors await key reports on Wednesday. Light sweet crude for December delivery traded at $90.38, down $3.15 on the session. Oil dipped as low as $89.76, after reaching as high as $93.68 in overnight trading. Reports on Wednesday are likely to move the oil market. The Department of Energy's weekly inventory data is due for release at 10:30 a.m. ET. Most experts expect the data to show a rise in stockpiles. Last Wednesday, data revealed that crude oil inventories fell by 5.3 million barrels in the week ended October 19 following an increase of 1.8 million barrels in the previous week. The decrease came as a surprise to analysts, who had expected inventories to increase by about 700,000 barrels. That pushed oil past the $90 mark for the first time. In the afternoon, all eyes will be on the Federal Open Market Committee when it concludes its meeting with an interest rate decision. Most experts are predicting a cut of 25 basis points. On Monday, crude closed above $93 a barrel and continued its march towards the $100 mark. Crude reached as high as $93.80 in afternoon trading and finished up $1.67 on the session. Overall, oil continued to move closer to the inflation-adjusted record levels of $101.70, reached in April of 1980. In other news, natural gas prices climbed to $8.038, up 6.4 cents on the session. Natural gas inventory data is scheduled for release on Thursday.
October 30, 2007 3:35 PM