U.S. oil prices edge higher ahead of API supply data

Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures edged higher on Tuesday, as traders looked ahead to weekly data on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products later in the day.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for August delivery ticked up 30 cents, or 0.5%, to trade at $60.30 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. A day earlier, Nymex oil prices lost 40 cents, or 0.66%, to end at $60.00.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 1.8 million barrels in the week ended June 12.

According to industry research group Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by 7 last week to 635. The drop marks the 27th straight week of declines.

Market players have been paying close attention to the shrinking rig count in recent months for signs it will eventually reduce the glut of crude flowing into the market.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for August delivery dipped 14 cents, or 0.21%, to trade at $63.82 a barrel. On Monday, Brent futures lost 69 cents, or 1.07%, to close at $63.95.

The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $3.52 a barrel, compared to $3.95 by close of trade on Monday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.4% to 95.45 early on Tuesday, moving off overnight lows of 94.81.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued last month increased by 11.8% to 1.275 million units, the most since August 2007. Analysts expected building permits to fall by 3.5% to 1.100 million units in May from April's total of 1.140 million.

The report also showed that U.S. housing starts plunged by 11.1% in May to 1.036 million units from April’s total of 1.165 million units, worse than expectations for a decline of 3.1% to 1.100 million.

Investors now looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement on Wednesday for any fresh indications on when it may start to hike interest rates.

Recent economic reports have indicated that the U.S. economy was regaining strength after contracting in the first quarter, fuelling speculation that the U.S. central bank could raise rates as soon as September.

Market players also continued to monitor developments surrounding talks between Greece and its international creditors, amid growing concerns that the country could default on its debt be forced out of the euro zone.