Oil prices rose on expectations of tightening oil supplies. Market participants are awaiting the release of U.S. crude oil inventories data. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is scheduled to release its U.S. oil inventories data later in the day, and U.S. oil inventories data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is expected tomorrow.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 454.0 million in the week to September 18.

Gains are limited by concerns over a slowdown in the global economy. China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday that profits of industrial companies in China declined 8.8% in August from a year earlier. It was the biggest drop October 2011.

WTI crude oil for November delivery rose to $45.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude oil for October climbed to $48.40 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Gold price continued to decline on the speculation on the interest rate hike by the Fed this year. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said in a speech at the University of Massachusetts last Thursday that she expects that the Fed will start raising its interest rates by the end of the year, followed by a gradual pace of interest rate hikes.

Yesterday's comments by New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley added to this speculation. He said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday that the Fed could still start raising its interest rates this year. Dudley noted that the interest rate hike in October is also possible.

Today's U.S. economic data also weighed on gold price. The Conference Board released its consumer confidence index for the U.S. on Tuesday. The index rose to 103.0 in September from 101.3 in August, beating expectations for a rise to 96.1. August's figure was revised down from 101.5.

October futures for gold on the COMEX today declined to 1124.30 dollars per ounce.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its new World Economic Outlook study on Monday. The IMF said that energy exporting countries could lose about 2.25% of their economic growth through from 2015 to 2017, compared to 2012 to 2014, due to falling oil prices.

Earlier, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde in an interview with Les Echos that the IMF is likely to cut its global growth forecasts due to a slowdown in emerging economies.

Lagarde pointed out that forecasts of 3.3% growth this year and 3.8% next year are no longer realistic. She expect the global economic growth to be above the 3% threshold.

The Japan Center for Economic Research released its so-called Li Keqiang index on Tuesday. The index is based on three economic indicators: railway freight, electric power generation and growth in bank lending. The Li Keqiang index showed that the Chinese economy expanded 4.8% to 6.5% in the second quarter, below the official 7% growth.

The Japan Center for Economic Research's data began to differ around summer 2013 and the gap widened.

West Texas Intermediate futures for November delivery slid to $44.41 (-0.05%), while Brent crude climbed to $47.39 (+0.11%) after yesterday's decline.

Oil prices were slightly supported by a weaker dollar as it makes this dollar-denominated commodity more affordable for holders of other currencies, however fundamentals remain unfavorable. Major oil producers maintain high levels of output, while global economic growth is slowing. Investors are particularly concerned about the economic situation in China, world's second-biggest oil consumer.

Meanwhile Royal Dutch Shell has left its plan to become the first company to produce oil in Alaska's Arctic waters "for the foreseeable future" after years of efforts and $7 billion spent in this project because it did not find find enough oil to make further drilling reasonable.

Gold fell to $1,126.80 (-0.43%) after the Swiss competition commission said they were suspecting seven large banks (UBS, Julius Baer, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Mitsui) for price manipulation in the trade of precious metals. However analysts say that this probe is unlikely to influence gold trading significantly.

Bullion was also weighed by speech by FOMC Member Dudley, who said that the central bank is likely to raise rates later this year. Higher interest rates would decrease demand for non-yielding bullion.

(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Oil 44.47+0.09%

Gold 1,131.60 0.01%

(pare/closed(GMT +3)/change, %)

EUR/USD $1,1240 +0,43%

GBP/USD $1,5171 -0,05%

USD/CHF Chf0,934 -4,82%

USD/JPY Y119,93 -0,53%

EUR/JPY Y134,80 -0,10%

GBP/JPY Y181,93 -0,59%

AUD/USD $0,6980 -0,66%

NZD/USD $0,6320 -0,98%

USD/CAD C$1,3392 +0,45%