Investing.com - Crude prices traded near session lows in Thursday trading despite relatively solid U.S. data, as concerns the global economy is awash in oil watered down demand for the commodity.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in November traded down 0.69% at $92.16 a barrel during U.S. trading. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $92.11 a barrel and a high of $93.54 a barrel.
The November contract settled up 1.35% at $92.80 a barrel on Wednesday.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $90.41 a barrel, Monday's low, and resistance at $94.12 a barrel, the high from Sept. 16.
Oil prices rose a day earlier after official data revealed that U.S. crude stockpiles plunged by 4.3 million barrels last week, confounding expectations for a build of 386,000 barrels, though by Thursday, profit taking sent crude back into negative territory.
Despite a more upbeat U.S. recovery, Europe and Asian economies still battle headwinds at a time when the world is awash in crude.
Positive U.S. data failed to seriously boost demand for oil.
The U.S. Labor Department reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 20 rose by 12,000 to 293,000, up from the previous week's revised total of 281,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 19,000 to 300,000 last week.
Separately, official data showed that U.S. durable goods orders dropped by 18.2% in August, after an increase of 22.5% in July, whose figure was revised down from a previously estimated gain of 22.6%. Analysts had expected durable goods orders to decline by 18.0% last month.
Core durable goods orders, which are stripped of volatile transportation items, rose 0.7% last month, in line with expectations, after falling 0.5% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.7% drop.
Elsewhere, hawkish comments out of the Federal Reserve pushed oil prices lower by strengthening the dollar.
A stronger greenback makes oil less attractive on dollar-denominated exchanges, especially in the eyes of investors holding other currencies.
Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said the U.S. central bank may start raising benchmark interest rates around the spring of 2015, earlier than many market expectations.
Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for November delivery were down 0.48% at US$96.49 a barrel, while the spread between Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$4.33 a barrel.