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Crude oil sees 7 days lower

Thursday, October 25 07:33:37

Brent crude prices fell for a seventh consecutive session on Wednesday as rising U.S. crude inventories and weak euro zone economic data offset supportive signs that Chinese petroleum demand could stage a recovery. Crude oil stocks in the United States jumped 5.9 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a weekly report, well above the increase of 1.9 million barrels in a Reuters survey of analysts. Gasoline stocks rose more than expected, total distillate stockpiles eased slightly less than the consensus forecast and demand for the products over the previous four weeks was below the year-ago period.

"The report is mostly bearish, with the large increase in crude oil inventories being the highlight of the report," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. Oil prices pushed higher earlier on lift when a survey of purchasing managers showed China's economy is slowly picking up from its weakest period of growth in three years. But while the HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) hitting a three-month high of 49.1 in October was supportive for oil prices, the reading was still below the 50-point mark that separates expanding from shrinking business activity. Brent December crude slipped 40 cents to settle at $107.85 a barrel, recovering to close back above the 100-day moving average of $107.50. Wednesday's $106.80 low was the lowest for front-month Brent since Sept. 20. ( C) reuters