Crude-oil futures extended losses on Thursday, 31 July 2014 as bearish U.S. inventory data a day before sent the U.S. oil benchmark below the $100 a barrel mark.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September was down $2.10, or 2.1%, to end at $98.77 a barrel. Monthly losses for crude reached 5.6%, snapping a three-month winning streak.
The market place is still monitoring geopolitical issues. The European Union and U.S. this week have slapped new and harsher sanctions on Russia. Meantime, the Israel-Hamas conflict is not de-escalating. These matters will continue to be not far from the front burner of the market place in the near term.
Now, traders and investors await Friday's U.S. Labor Department employment report. The report is forecast to see a rise in non-farm payrolls of 230,000 in July versus up 288,000 in June.
In overnight news, the July consumer price index in the European Union rose 0.4%, year-on-year, and is the lowest reading since 2009. The June CPI came in at up 0.5%. These figures are well below the European Central Bank's target of 2.0% annual inflation in the EU.
Among other energy products, Nymex reformulated gasoline fell 1.22 cents to settle at $2.8311 a gallon, while August heating oil settled at $2.8866 a gallon, 40 cents lower. On the month, gasoline futures lost 8% and heating oil futures lost 2.8%.
Natural gas for September delivery rose 5.5 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $3.8410 per million British thermal units, getting a boost from a smaller-than-expected rise in weekly supplies. On the month, natural-gas futures declined 14%, the largest monthly percentage decline since March 2012.