NYMEX-Oil falls towards $84 ahead of expected stockbuild

Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:44am BST

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures eased closer
to $84 a barrel on Tuesday, falling for the fifth straight day,
ahead of data due later in the day that is expected to show a
build in U.S. crude stockpiles.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for May delivery CLc1 was down 24 cents at
$84.10 a barrel by 0027 GMT, after settling down 58 cents on
Monday as questions about the strength of U.S. oil demand
outweighed support from strong Chinese crude imports and a weak
dollar. [ID:nSGE63B06G]
* U.S. crude oil inventories likely rose last week for the
11th week in a row, on higher imports, a Reuters poll ahead of
weekly inventory reports showed on Monday. [EIA/S]
The American Petroleum Institute (API), an U.S. industry
group, will release its weekly stockpile data later on Tuesday,
while the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a government
organisation, will release its report on Wednesday.
* China's March crude oil imports jumped to their
second-highest monthly level on record of 4.95 million bpd, up
2.5 percent from February on a per-day basis. [ID:nSGE63901H]
MARKETS NEWS
* Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.4 percent on
Tuesday, led lower by chip-linked shares [.T]
* On Monday, the U.S. Dow industrials closed above 11,000 for
the first time in almost 19 months as expectations of solid
first-quarter earnings spurred buying in financial, energy and
industrial sectors. [.N]
* The euro was lower against the dollar on Tuesday, after it
advanced to its highest level against the greenback in nearly a
month on Monday when euro zone finance ministers agreed on a
financial aid package for Greece. [FRX/]
DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Tuesday:
-- ICSC/Goldman U.S. Weekly Chain Store Sales (1145 GMT)
-- U.S. International Trade for February (1230 GMT)
-- U.S. Import/Export Prices for March (1230 GMT)
-- Redbook Weekly U.S. Retail Sales (1255 GMT)
-- U.S. IBD/TIPP Consumer Confidence for April (1400 GMT)
-- API Weekly U.S. National Petroleum Report (2030 GMT)
-- ABC U.S. Weekly Consumer Comfort Index (2100 GMT)
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