Crude oil futures traded lower on Wednesday morning as industry data showed a massive increase in crude oil inventories in the US.
At 9.53 am on Wednesday, January Brent oil futures were at $81.56, down by 0.06 per cent, and December crude oil futures on West Texas Intermediate (WTI) were at $77.14, down by 0.30 per cent.
November crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,440 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading, against the previous close of ₹6,507, down by 1.03 per cent, and December futures were trading at ₹6,461 as against the previous close of ₹6,523, down by 0.95 per cent.
Demand pointer
According to the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) data, crude oil inventories in the US increased by 11 million barrels for the week ending November 3, even as the market was expecting a decline to the tune of around 0.3 million barrels. The increase in the inventories indicates a decline in demand for the commodity in the US market.
The weekly petroleum status report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) — the official source of data on crude oil inventories — will not be released on November 8. EIA had said in a recent media statement that it would delay the data release to complete a planned systems upgrade. It will continue to collect data and publish the two-week petroleum status report on November 15, it said.
Meanwhile, the market is also waiting for the speech of US Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the Division of Research and Statistics Centennial Conference in Washington later in the day. Powell’s speech is being keenly observed to see if he maintains a hawkish policy stance.
Jeera, dhaniya gain
November natural gas futures were trading at ₹265 on MCX against the previous close of ₹262.50, up by 0.95 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), November jeera contracts were trading at ₹45,395 against the previous close of ₹45,005, up by 0.87 per cent.
November dhaniya futures were trading at ₹7,498 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹7,462, up by 0.48 per cent.