Crude Oil Ends Lower On Mixed Data

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a four-day gain to end lower on Thursday, after some mixed economic data with initial claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. climbing more than expected last week.

Nonetheless, the losses were somewhat checked by some improved manufacturing activity data from the U.S. and China, as well on fears of supply disruption from Russia and delay in restarting Libya shipments.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.33 or 0.3 percent to close at $103.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Crude prices for July delivery scaled a high of $104.22 a barrel intraday and a low of $103.55.

Crude oil surged to end higher on Wednesday, after official data from the Energy Information Administration showed a surprisingly large drop in U.S. crude oil stockpiles.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.27 on Thursday, up from its previous close of 80.07 late Wednesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.28 intraday and a low of 80.07.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3647 on Thursday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3687 late Wednesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3690 intraday and a low of $1.3646.

In economic news from the U.S., the data from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims to have climbed to a more than expected 326,000 in the week ended May 17. Economists expected claims to increase to 310,000 from 297,000 in the previous week.

The data released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the U.S., rose 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.65 million in April, from 4.59 million in March. That was slightly lower than an expected climb to 4.69 million.

The Conference Board's index of leading U.S. economic indicators was up for the third consecutive month, rising by 0.4 percent in April following an upwardly revised 1.0 percent increase in March.

Meanwhile, according to the flash purchasing managers index released by Markit, U.S. manufacturing activity improved to a 3-month high in May, with the manufacturing PMI rising to 56.2 compared to the 55.4 in April. The consensus estimate called for an increase to 55.9.

The U.K. economy grew at a faster pace as initially estimated in the first quarter, with its gross domestic product up 0.8 percent from the prior quarter, and unchanged from the estimate published on April 29. The sequential growth follows a 0.7 percent rise in the fourth quarter of last year. On a yearly basis, GDP rose 3.1 percent in the first three months of 2014, in line with initial estimates.

China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index improved to 49.7 in May from a final reading of 48.1 in April, a HSBC Flash reading showed. Economists estimated a reading of 48.4. Nonetheless, this is still below the 50-point level which indicates a contraction.