Investing.com - Crude futures took a beating on Tuesday, the last day of the third quarter, as investors ditched the commodity on concerns that the global market is awash in crude while demand remains soft.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in November traded down 3.51% at $91.25 a barrel during U.S. trading. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $91.10 a barrel and a high of $94.90 a barrel.
The November contract settled up 1.10% at $94.57 a barrel on Monday.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $90.41 a barrel, the low from Sept. 22, and resistance at $94.64 a barrel, Monday's high.
Investors finished the third quarter abandoning oil positions on concerns that the global oil supply remains very ample and far outstrips demand.
Oil has seen some support in the past on perceptions that the U.S. economy may offset softening demand in Europe and Asia, but a disappointing consumer confidence report released earlier exacerbated the selloff.
The Conference Board reported earlier that its consumer confidence index fell to 86.0 this month from 93.4 in August, whose figure was revised up from a previously reported 92.4.
Analysts expected the index to decline to 92.5 in September, and the number punished oil prices as consumer spending drives about three quarters of the U.S. economy.
A separate report showed that a Chicago-area purchasing managers' index fell to 60.5 this month from 64.3 in August. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 61.9 in September.
Soft inflation data in Europe added to Tuesday's woes.
Eurostat, the statistics arm of the European Union, reported earlier that the euro area's annual inflation rate fell to a five-year low of 0.3% in September from 0.4% in August.
Core inflation, which strips out food, energy, alcohol and tobacco costs, came in at 0.7%, down from 0.9% in August.
The data strengthened the dollar, which pushed down oil prices, as a stronger greenback makes oil less attractive in exchanges denominated in the U.S. currency, especially among investors holding other currencies.
Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for November delivery were down 2.62% at US$94.66 a barrel, while the spread between Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$3.41 a barrel.