Crude Moves Up Near $110 Ahead Of Official Inventories Data....

The price of crude oil was extending gains for a second session Wednesday morning as traders await cues from the official inventories data due out later during the session. Also, a weak U.S. dollar helped lift buyer sentiment.

Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for June delivery, the new front month contract, were up $1.35 to $109.63 a barrel. Yesterday, oil bounced back above $108 amid a weak U.S. dollar.

Tuesday after the market close, the API said U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 667,000 barrels, while gasoline stocks dipped by 1.79 million barrels in the week ended April 15. Analysts were expecting crude oil inventories pile up by 1.60 million barrels, while gasoline stocks were seen dipping 1.3 million barrels last week.

This morning, the U.S. dollar slipped to a fresh 16-month low versus the euro and trading weak against sterling. The buck moved back near its record low, hit last week, versus the Swiss Franc and trading flat versus the yen.

Traders will look to the report on existing home sales from the National Association of Realtors, due out at 10.a.m. ET. Economists expect the sales to have increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.00 million units from 4.88 million units reported for the previous month.

Today during trading hours the EIA will release its U.S. crude oil inventories report for the week ended April 15. Analysts were expecting crude oil inventories to gain by 1.3 million barrels and gasoline stocks to ease by 1.5 million barrels last week. [From Internet]