SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures logged a fourth straight session of losses Tuesday on the back of a better supply outlook, but prices settled above $103 a barrel as uncertainties surrounding the Middle East region remained.
Crude oil for November delivery CLX3 -0.21% fell 46 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $103.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after tapping a low of $102.30 in electronic trading.
Including Tuesday’s action, futures prices tallied a four session loss of 4.5% and also logged their seventh loss in eight sessions. The settlement price was the lowest for a most-active contract since late July, FactSet data show.
Oil briefly headed back toward the session’s lows after data showed U.S. consumers were less confident in September, which helped dull the outlook for energy demand. Theconsumer-confidence index fell to 79.7 from a revised 81.8 in August.
Prices then pared their losses after U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations that the U.S. was committed to finding diplomatic solutions to the civil war in Syria and the dispute with Iran over its nuclear program.
His comments eased risks to supplies from the region.
But “the sincerity of any offers of a diplomatic solution remain uncertain,” said Kevin Kerr, president and chief executive officer at Kerr Trading International. “Markets remain optimistically cautious, but the proof in the pudding will be any long-term results.”
Also somewhat supportive for oil prices were overall signs of global growth and the possibility that prices have reached oversold levels after a multi-day decline, said Jason Rotman, president of Lido Isle Advisors. Read: Dividend rise is positive economic indicator.
Nymex oil closed below $104 a barrel on Monday as concerns over Middle Eastern supplies continued to ease, in part due to rising output from Libya. Fading expectations for a U.S. military strike in Syria and more exports from South Sudan also improved the supply outlook, dampening prices.
