WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday, weighed down by a stronger dollar, rising crude production in the U.S. and concerns about economic growth and the outlook for oil demand.
Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas weighed as well on the commodity's prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $0.70 at $81.93 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $1.04 or about 1.2% at $86.16 a barrel a little while ago.
A report from MNI Indicators showed Chicago-area business unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in the month of April.
The report said the Chicago business barometer dropped to 37.9 in April from 41.4 in March, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to rise to 44.9.
With the unexpected decrease, the Chicago business barometer fell to its lowest level since November 2022.
A report released by the Conference Board showed consumer confidence in the U.S. deteriorated by much more than expected in the month of April.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slid to 97.0 in April from a downwardly revised 103.1 in March. Economists had expected the index to dip to 140.0 from the 104.7 originally reported for the previous month.
Markets await weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The API report is due later today, while the EIA data is due Wednesday morning.
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