Crude: -4.5 (vs. -0.9 fcst)
Gasoline: +1.5 (vs. +0.1 fcst)
Distillates: +3.0 (vs. +0.6 fcst)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures advanced Tuesday on support from a weaker dollar, after swerving in and out of negative territory earlier. Crude oil for July delivery added 55 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $71.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The market struggled for direction earlier, fluctuating alongside stocks. "It feels like the market is waiting for something to happen before it does anything," said Peter Beutel, president of trading advisory firm Cameron Hanover in New Canaan, Conn.
"Any bullish impact from the drop in crude-oil inventories was offset by corresponding builds in product stocks, with distillate inventories showing a larger-than-expected 3 [million per barrels] rise from the revised level for the prior period," Tim Evans, an analyst with Citi Futures Perspective, wrote in a note shortly after the API report.