Crude Holds Above $85

(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was firm above $85 Monday morning even as the Hurricane Irene swept up the U.S. east coast causing little or nil impact to refiners and terminals.

Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for October delivery, edged up $0.19 to $85.56 a barrel. Last week, oil gained nearly 4 percent after as risk appetite improved amid a recovery in global stocks.

This morning the U.S. dollar was extending losses versus the euro, sterling and the yen, while ticking higher versus the Swiss franc.

Traders will look to the release of personal income and spending report by the U.S. Commerce Department at 8.30 a.m. ET. Economists expect a 0.3 percent increase in personal income and 0.5 percent growth in personal spending.


Later during the session, the National Association of Realtors will come out with its report on pending home sales for the month of July. Economists expect the index to decline by 1 percent in July following a 2.4 percent increase in the previous month.

During this week, focus will be on Labor Department's non-farm payrolls report, the weekly jobless claims report, the results of the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing survey, the ADP private sector employment report, the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index for July and the Commerce Department's personal income and spending report.

Also weekly crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Tuesday after the market hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day will be in focus.

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