Crude loses close to a percent

Strong dollar and concerns around monetary easing put pressure on prices Crude-oil prices ended lower on Monday, 13 May 2013 at Nymex. June crude oil dropped following a strong dollar. Prices also slipped on concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will ease back on economic stimulus and rising output from key oil producers pushing prices to their lowest close in over a week. Light and sweet crude for June ended lower by $0.87 (0.9%) at $95.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. Investors considered the possible curtailing of monetary-policy stimulus by the Fed. The central bank's easy monetary policy tends to raise the risk of inflation, as well as put pressure on the dollar. China on Monday reported its industrial production did improve during April, but still came in slightly below trade expectations. Industrial production in China came in at up 9.3%, on an annualized basis, in April. The market expected up 9.5%. Reviewing today's economic data at Wall Street, business inventories growth was flat for a second consecutive month in March. The consensus expected business inventories to increase 0.3%. Inventory growth from manufacturers (0.0%) and merchant wholesalers (0.4%) was known prior to the release. The only new information was that retailer inventories declined 0.5% in March after increasing 0.2% in February. Retail sales increased 0.1% in April after declining 0.5% in March. The consensus expected retail sales to decline 0.3%. The April employment report showed a 0.3% decline in aggregate wages. The increase in sales was a result of consumers reducing their savings rate. That may work in the short-run, but consumers are expected eventually to increase their savings rate back to 2012 levels. Unless income growth accelerates, retail sales growth will likely decelerate and possibly contract in the long-run. In the currency market, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.15% on Monday. Among other energy products on Monday, June heating oil slipped 1.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $2.89 a gallon. June gasoline lost 4 cents, or 1.4%, to close at $2.82 a gallon. Natural gas for June delivery tacked on 1.5 cents, or 0.4%, to $3.93 per million British thermal units. At the MCX, crude oil for May delivery closed lower by Rs 15 (0.3%) at Rs 5,237/barrel. Natural gas for May delivery closed higher by Rs 1.1 (0.5%) at Rs 215.2.