Crude-oil futures declined Wednesday, hurt by a weaker-than-anticipated data on U.S. economic growth, though they have recovered after slumping immediately after the report.
Investors also are waiting on weekly U.S. oil inventory numbers and a Federal Reserve statement due later.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at $57 a barrel, down 5 cents, or 0.1%. Meanwhile, June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange gained 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $64.89 a barrel.
The Commerce Department said the U.S. gross domestic product grew at a meager 0.2% annual pace in the first three months of 2015, missing forecasts. Oil added to its losses immediately after the GDP report, but then bounced back somewhat.
The American Petroleum Institute’s data showed late Tuesday that U.S. crude stocks climbed by another 4.2 million barrels in the week ended April 24, but slipped by 0.2 million barrels at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub.
Market observers are suspicious about the momentum as oil supply still outpaces demand levels, although oil has rallied through most of April.
“We believe the market is currently underestimating the underlying
resilience of U.S. oil production, supply dynamics in other major oil
producers including Russia and Saudi Arabia, future demand weakness from
China, and the likelihood of a breakthrough in Iranian sanctions
negotiations,” analysts at BMI Research, a unit of Fitch Group, said.
Data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration are due later Wednesday, along with a Fed announcement that could give direction for oil.
