Reply #101: Oil futures close above $74 to break a three-day losing streak (@ $74.16) [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=mktw&guid=%7B976A776D%2D6102%2D4EE0%2DB024%2D22F5A439CDD1%7D&symbol=

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures closed above $74 a barrel Tuesday, breaking a three-day losing streak, with traders eyeing Iran's nuclear program and North Korea's missile tests and awaiting data on U.S. gasoline supplies over the Independence Day holiday weekend.

Crude for August delivery closed up 55 cents at $74.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $74.60. The contract had surrendered 2% of its value in the past three days after touching a record above $75 a barrel on Friday.

Overall, "there are few new developments on the supply or demand side, and the market will likely again turn to focus on the short-term fix of Wednesday's inventory data to establish some more clear directional trading for the latter part of the week," said James Neale, analyst at Citigroup, in a research note.

Analysts at Wachovia Corp. expect the Energy Department Wednesday to report a decline of 2 million barrels in crude inventories for the week ended July 7. Man Financial is looking for a decline of 1.5 million to 2.5 million. Fimat USA expects an increase of 2.1 million.

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