Oil rose slightly, hovering above $US82 a barrel, as rising US
consumer confidence figures were offset by a firming dollar and
expectations of a boost in US crude inventories.
After swings between negative and positive territory, US crude
for December settled up three cents at $US82.55 a barrel, gaining
for a third consecutive day.
ICE Brent fell 2 US cents to $US83.52.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected weekly US stocks data to
show stocks rose in the top consumer last week, by an average 1.4
million barrels. Gasoline stocks are forecast to have risen by
500,000 barrels.
US oil stocks data will be released late on Tuesday by industry
group the American Petroleum Institute while official weekly data
from the US Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday
morning.
Oil has mostly been trading in the $US75 to $US85 a barrel range
since May.
Walkouts ended at several French oil refineries on Tuesday, and
fuel was leaving four of France's 12 plants. Weeks of French
strikes to protest pension reform have crimped European fuel
supply. One at the key southern Fos-Lavera oil terminals was still
blocking 60 oil tankers, including 40 carrying crude, the port of
Marseille said.
The strikes may have allowed US refiners to ship more fuel to
Europe in recent weeks.
As a result, analysts forecast a significant draw in US
distillate stocks , which have been well above five-year averages
this year. They likely fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week to
Oct 22, a Reuters poll showed.
Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday, recovering from
early lows on technical buying, as the metal's inverse link with
the dollar looked to have broken, at least for now.
After trading lower for most of the day, gold reversed losses as
US data showing weak consumer confidence and falling home prices
reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will unleash a
second around of monetary easing as early as its Nov 2-3
meeting.
Silver rose 1.5 per cent to lead the precious metals gains, and
palladium surged to a nine-year high for a second consecutive
day.
The hourly correlation between gold and the dollar, which tend
to move in the opposite direction, suggested a weak inverse link
between the two. Gold has now closed in the same direction with the
US currency only once in the past 10 days.
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $US1337.17 an ounce. US gold
futures for December delivery settled down 30 cents at $1,338.60,
with trading volume in line with their 30-day average.
Shayne Heffernan www.livetradingnews.com