New York-traded oil futures bounced back on Tuesday ahead of weekly supply reports, while London’s Brent crude traded lower on concerns about the eurozone’s economy. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November rose 69 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $91.56 a barrel. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange lost 12 cents, falling to $97.27 a barrel.
The preliminary HSBC China manufacturing PMI rose to 50.5 in September, compared with a final reading of 50.2 in August, boosting investor optimism about fuel demand in the world’s second-largest economy. That helped set the tone for New York-traded oil a day before the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to report its inventories numbers. Traders polled by Platts expect an increase of 1 million barrels in supplies for the week ended Sept. 19 on the back of healthy domestic production, which will weigh on Nymex crude prices.
Brent took its cues from news economic activity in the euro zone slowed in September to its lowest so far this year, making it more likely European central bankers will announce additional measures to spur the economy. A bearish reaction in European equities prompted “some further selling in Brent crude oil as part of a wider risk-off trade flow,” said Tim Evans, an analyst with Citi futures. “In contrast, WTI crude oil is rebounding” ahead of the supply reports, he added.