Crude oil futures were largely stable in mid-morning trade in Asia Tuesday, after settling lower overnight on bearish macroeconomic data, as the market awaits fresh drivers after the Diwali public holiday. At 10:42 am Singapore time (0242 GMT), ICE Brent December crude futures were down 1 cent/b from the previous settle at $61.56/b, while the NYMEX December light sweet crude contract was 8 cents/b lower at $55.73/b.
Prices were little changed as slower demand growth indications were likely to balance out any limitations in supply for the moment, analysts said. “Investors are still giving more weight to weakening demand growth over tightening supplies,” ANZ analysts said in a note Tuesday.
Industrial production data from China showed a further fall in corporate profits in September amid the continuing trade dispute between the US and China, S&P Global Platts has reported. While the US and China have said they are making progress in the trade talks, this helped to lift equities Monday but not the oil market.
“Markets will be closely watching the earnings of top US oil producers to get production guidance for 2019 and 2020,” the ANZ analysts noted. US Energy Information Administration data due for release later in the week would also provide clearer indications to the market. Imports are likely to determine whether the weekly data shows a build in US crude inventories, market sources said. US crude production is currently around 12.6 million b/d, according to the EIA.