Crude Oil Ends Marginally Higher; Dollar Weak

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil rebounded from a sharp fall in the previous session to end a shade higher Thursday, as the dollar weakened against a basket of few major currencies and driven by some mixed macroeconomic data out of the U.S. -- tracking mainly the uptick in new orders for manufactured durable goods.

In some encouraging economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured durable goods rose much more than expected in June, with orders for transportation equipment showing a substantial increase.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased modestly for the week ended July 20. The report from the U.S. Labor Department showed claims to have come in slightly above what economists expected.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for September delivery, the most actively traded contract, moved up $0.10 to close at $105.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Crude prices for September delivery scaled a high of $105.87 a barrel intraday and a low of $104.08.

Yesterday, oil lost nearly 2 percent to end at a near two-week low on demand growth concerns after some weak factory activity data out of China, the world's second largest oil consumer with the dollar strengthening against some major currencies.

China's factory activity fell to the weakest level in eleven months in July amid a continued slide in new orders and faster de-stocking, preliminary results of a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC revealed. The purchasing managers' index, an indicator of the country's factory sector performance, fell to 47.7 in July from 48.2 in June. An index reading below 50 suggests deterioration in activity.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 81.97 on Thursday, down from 82.30 late Wednesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 82.40 intraday and a low of 81.92.

The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.3245 on Thursday, as compared to $1.3200 late Wednesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3254 intraday and a low of $1.3166.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 343,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 336,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to climb to 341,000 from the 334,000 originally reported in the previous week.

A report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed durable goods orders to have surged 4.2 percent in June following an upwardly revised 5.2 percent jump in May. Economists expected orders to rise by 1.5 percent compared to the 3.7 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month. Excluding the 12.8 percent jump in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders were unchanged in June compared to a 1.0 percent increase in May.

Elsewhere, confidence among German businesses improved in July, reports citing survey results from the Ifo Institute said. The Ifo business climate index rose to 106.2 in July from 105.9 in June. Economists expected the index to rise to 106.1. The current conditions index advanced to 110.1 in July from 109.4 in June. This was expected to rise modestly to 109.7. The expectations index, however, dropped slightly to 102.4 from 102.5 in June.

Eurozone money supply growth eased unexpectedly in June, and the decline in loans to private sector worsened further, official data revealed. According to the European Central Bank, M3 money supply grew only 2.3 percent annually, slower than last month's 2.9 percent increase and the expected 3 percent growth.

The U.K. economy expanded at a faster pace as expected in the second quarter on a widespread support from production, construction and services. The GDP doubled to 0.6 percent from 0.3 percent in the first quarter, preliminary estimate published by the Office for National Statistics showed. The growth rate matched expectations.