Futures Movers: Oil holds steady after inventory data

By Kristene Quan, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) ? Benchmark U.S. crude-oil futures sat flat during electronic trading early Thursday, getting only the slightest of boosts from data showing lower-than-expected crude inventories.

Crude oil for December delivery /quotes/zigman/2084380 CLZ2 -0.01% ?rose 1 cent, or less than 0.1%, to $86.33 a barrel on Globex during Asia trading hours.

The slight increase extended a 94-cent jump for the contract to settle at $86.32 a barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

After Wednesday?s settlement, the American Petroleum Institute said that crude-oil supplies rose a less-than-expected 1.35 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 9.

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The more closely watched U.S. Energy Information Administration report was due out later Thursday, with a Platts survey tipping expectations for a 1.5 million-barrel increase in crude-oil stocks. Read: Oil supply up more than 1 million barrels: API.

GFT technical analyst Fawad Razaqzada said crude-oil contracts have recently been supported by a weaker dollar and geopolitical concerns in the Middle East.

?The fact that [crude oil] has managed to hold above $85 for a number of sessions now is technically bullish,? said Razaqzada.

The dollar made slight gains during Asian hours Thursday, with ICE dollar index /quotes/zigman/1652083 DXY +0.04% ?inching higher to 81.192 from 81.111 in late North American trade Wednesday.

Among other energy products Thursday, heating-oil for December delivery /quotes/zigman/2101426 HOZ2 +0.19% rose 0.2% to $2.99 a gallon, and gasoline for delivery in the same month /quotes/zigman/2333556 RBZ2 +0.28% ?increased 0.7% to $2.70 a gallon.

Natural-gas futures for December /quotes/zigman/2184457 NGZ12 +0.61% ? rose 0.3% to $3.77 per million British thermal units.

/quotes/zigman/2084380

US : U.S.: Nymex

Volume: 5,562

Nov. 15, 2012 3:08a

/quotes/zigman/1652083

US : U.S.: ICE Futures U.S.

Volume: 0.00

Nov. 15, 2012 3:08a

/quotes/zigman/2101426

US : U.S.: Nymex

Volume: 239.00

Nov. 15, 2012 3:08a

/quotes/zigman/2333556

US : U.S.: Nymex

Volume: 187.00

Nov. 15, 2012 3:06a

/quotes/zigman/2184457

US : U.S.: Nymex

Volume: 2,054

Nov. 15, 2012 3:08a

Kristene Quan is a MarketWatch reporter, based in Hong Kong.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B1F935AEC-2EE9-11E2-97FC-002128040CF6%7D&siteid=rss

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