NYMEX crude falls in early Asia despite API data mild drop in supplies

Investing.com - Crude oil prices fell early in Asia on Wednesday as industry supply data failed to bolster a growing global surplus of the commodity.

The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed a 463,000-barrel draw in oil supplies, a 2.5 million-barrel drop in gasoline supplies and a 1.8 million-barrel decline in distillate stocks.

A U.S. Department of Energy survey is expected to show a gain of 700,00 barrels in crude oil stocks, a 100,000 barrels drop in distillates and a 767,000 barrels decline in gasoline.

The closely watched survey from the Energy Information Administration is due at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil for delivery in November traded at $91.36 a barrel, down 0.16%, after hitting an overnight session low of $91.10 a barrel and a high of $94.90 a barrel.

Brent oil prices settled below $100 a barrel Sept. 9 for the first time in 16 months and haven't topped that level since. Brent fell $2.53, or 2.6%, to $94.67 a barrel Tuesday, the lowest price since June 28, 2012

Brent--the global benchmark--and U.S. benchmark crude have fallen about 15% from their mid-June highs and closed the quarter at more-than-one-year lows.

Overnight, crude futures took a beating on 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.
Crude hammered lower

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.