Crude Oil Ends Lower, But Still Above $104

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil ended lower Tuesday, on easing concerns about Ukraine after a victory for the pro-European candidate Petro Poroshenko in the country's presidential elections over the weekend. Investors also weighed the upcoming official crude oil inventory data, while tracking rising equity markets with the dollar trending higher. Nonetheless, the losses were limited on a slew of upbeat economic data out of the U.S.

In some upbeat economic news, consumer confidence in the U.S. improved in line with estimates in May, a Conference Board report showed Tuesday, while new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly saw continued growth in April, with orders rising for the third consecutive month.

Meanwhile, home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas rose more than expected in March, a report from Standard & Poor's showed Tuesday.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.24 or 0.2 percent to close at $104.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Crude prices for July delivery scaled a high of $104.500 a barrel intraday and a low of $103.57.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.35 on Tuesday, up from its previous close of 80.29 in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.47 intraday and a low of 80.17.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3636 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3646 in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3646 intraday and a low of $1.3614.

In economic news, the data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed durable goods orders rose 0.8 percent in April, from an upwardly revised 3.6 percent rise in March, boosted by a notable increase in demand for military hardware. Excluding defense, new orders fell 0.8% in April. Excluding an increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged up by a modest 0.1 percent in April.

A report from Standard & Poor's showed home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas rose by a more than expected 1.2 percent in March, following a 0.8 percent increase in February. Economists expected the index to rise by about 0.7 percent. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the index climbed 0.9 percent in March after coming in unchanged in the previous month.

A report from the Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence improved in line with estimates, rising to 83.0 in May, from a downwardly revised 81.7 in April. Economists had been expecting the index to edge up to 83.0 from the 82.3 originally reported for the previous month.

The U.S. services sector expanded at its fastest in May since March 2012 even as employment growth increased, Markit Economics report showed Tuesday. The flash services purchasing managers index for May came in at 58.4, compared to the final reading of 55.0 in April. The index was expected to increase to 55.4 in May.

Meanwhile, home prices trended higher for the eleventh consecutive quarter, a Federal Housing Finance Agency report showed Tuesday. The Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index for the first quarter of 2014 rose 1.3 percent. Compared with last year, house prices rose 6.6 percent from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, the agency said. FHFA's seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 0.7 percent from February.