West Texas
Intermediate crude fell for a third day amid speculation that the Federal
Reserve may reduce stimulus and after Bank of America’s Francisco Blanch said
it will be difficult for WTI to rally much more.
Prices
dropped as much as 1.2 percent as investors awaited an address by Fed Bank of
Chicago President Charles Evans for indications of the central bank’s policy. Dallas
Fed President Richard Fisher said yesterday the bank is closer to slowing $85
billion in monthly bond buying. WTI could slide $8 to $10, Blanch, head of
commodities research at Bank of America in
WTI for
September delivery decreased $1.09, or 1 percent, to $105.47 a barrel at 10:23
a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it gained as much as 0.7
percent. The volume of all futures traded was 7.2 percent below the 100-day
average.
Brent for
September settlement slid 94 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $107.76 a barrel on the
London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 6.1 percent above 100-day
average. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $2.29 to WTI.
Crude
surged 8.8 percent in July, the biggest monthly gain since August 2012, as