Crude Oil traded in the range and settled at 5174 as strong US economic data boosted growth speculation in the world’s largest oil consuming nation. Crude oil started the bullish move after the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the US declined to 361k last week, from an upwardly revised 367k in the previous week, against expectations for an increase to 370k. Oil prices also remained supported by weekly inventory report from the US DOE showed a larger than expected drawdown of crude. The US EIA said US crude oil inventories decreased by 3.7mbls vs 0.26mbls. Meanwhile, hopes that the ECB will soon move to cut high Spanish and Italian borrowing costs faded as investors waited for more details of the bank’s proposed bond buying program to emerge. However, hopes for central bank stimulus were kept alive after data overnight showing that Chinese inflation slowed in July indicated that China’s central bank has more scope for monetary easing, following interest rates cuts in June and July. Meanwhile, persistent worries over instability in the Middle East and fears over disruptions to supplies ahead of upcoming maintenance in the North Sea supported oil prices. Now technically market is getting support at 5149 and below could see a test of 5124 level, And resistance is now likely to be seen at 5196, a move above could see prices testing 5218.

Trading Ideas:

Crude trading range for the day is 5124-5218.

Crude oil gains edging higher alongside equities after weekly jobless claims unexpectedly dropped.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia pumped 9.8 mln barrels bpd of crude oil in July, cutting output by 300,000 bpd from June

OPEC may have to reduce its forecast for growth in world oil demand in 2013 by 20 percent