West Texas Intermediate crude advanced after a government report showed that U.S. inventories declined to the lowest level since March 2012 and as investors awaited a Federal Reserve decision on bond purchases.

Futures rose after the Energy Information Administration said nationwide stockpiles dropped 4.37 million barrels to 355.6 million. A 1.2 million-barrel decline was projected in a Bloomberg survey. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, WTI’s delivery point, slid 861,000 barrels to 33.3 million, the fewest in almost 19 months. The Federal Open Market Committee is likely to say it will curb stimulus measures, economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast.

WTI crude for October delivery increased 98 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $106.40 a barrel at 10:42 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $105.74 before the release of the report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. Futures dropped to $105.42 yesterday, the lowest settlement since Aug. 22. The volume of all futures traded was 7.3 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent oil for November settlement rose 32 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $108.51 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark grade’s premium to WTI slipped to as little as $2.70 a barrel, the narrowest gap since Aug. 19, as some supplies returned in Libya and concern that a U.S.-led attack on Syria would affect Middle East exports waned.

Gold prices fell more than 1 percent, as investors expect the Fed to reduce incentives. Market participants expect the U.S. central bank on Wednesday announced a modest - about $ 10 billion a month - reducing the amount of buying bonds from the current $ 85 billion.

Gold rose in price in recent years thanks to the policy of stimulating the central banks of several countries, reaching in 2011 a record high of $ 1,920 an ounce, but this year, some analysts have lowered forecasts for gold due to the expected reduction of incentives for the Fed. According to Goldman Sachs, by the end of the year prices will drop to $ 1,050.

Physical demand in the largest gold consumer India and China is growing slowly due to the volatility of prices. Futures in Shanghai on Wednesday fell by 1 percent.

Government of India has increased the import duty on gold jewelry and 15 percent to 10, setting it higher duty on gold to protect local jewelers.

The cost of the October gold futures on COMEX today dropped to $ 1281.80 per ounce.

GOLD 1,310.40 -7.40 -0.56%

OIL (WTI) 105.48 -1.11 -1.04%