Sharp drop for crude

A lower dollar index kept the losses under control

Crude Oil futures dropped sharply on Tuesday at Nymex, 21 August 2013 with the September contract closing at a nearly two-week low under $105 a barrel, with the contract's expiration adding to volatility. A lower dollar index kept the losses under control.

Crude oil for September delivery sank by $2.14, or 2%, to settle at $104.96 a barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange.

Key data points this week will be the Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes that are released on Wednesday and some Chinese economic data on Thursday. Traders will be looking at the minutes for some clarity on the near future path of U.S. monetary policy.

Traders and investors are still watching the Egypt unrest, which continues to see violence between citizens and government militia.

There was no economic data reported today, but tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET and July existing home sales will be reported at 10:00 ET. Lastly, the Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes from its July meeting at 14:00 ET.

September natural gas closed at $3.44 per million British thermal units, down almost 2 cents, or 0.6%, after a 2.8% rally Monday.

Among other energy products, September gasoline shed less than a penny to $2.93 a gallon. September heating oil edged up by less than a cent to $3.08 a gallon.