West Texas Intermediate headed for its first monthly advance since February as crude inventories shrank at the delivery point for New York contracts. Brent was steady in London, poised for a second monthly gain amid violence in Ukraine.

Futures were little changed after rising 0.8 percent yesterday. Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, dropped by 1.53 million barrels last week to the lowest level since November 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration. Supplies nationwide expanded by 1.66 million, compared with a 500,000 barrel gain estimated in a Bloomberg News survey.

“WTI has been supported during the month of May by strong stock draws in Cushing and by short covering from large speculators,” Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland, said by e-mail.

WTI for July delivery was at $103.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 54 cents, at 12:59 p.m. London time. The volume of all futures traded was about 36 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day. Prices are up 3.3 percent this month.

Brent for July settlement was 43 cents lower at $109.54 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $6.49 to WTI, compared with $8.33 at the end of April.

Gold prices fell to a four-month low amid data on personal spending and income Americans.

Consumer spending in the U.S. fell in April , despite the forecasts of experts at a moderate increase , which reinforces concerns about the strength of economic recovery.

Ministry of Commerce announced that the seasonally adjusted volume of personal spending fell in April by 0.1 % , compared to the upwardly revised figure for the previous month at 1.0 % (originally reported +0.9 %). We add that the March growth was highest since August 2009. Economists had expected the figure to grow in April by 0.2%.

Many indicators have been volatile over the past few months , which was due to weather factors . Most economists say that the recession in the first quarter is likely to be followed by a moderate increase .

The Ministry of Commerce also reported that the annualized consumer spending rose by 3.1% in the first quarter , helped by rising health care costs .

Meanwhile , the report showed that in April, consumer spending on utilities fell 0.1 % after rising 0.8% in the previous month , while spending on goods fell 0.1 % after increasing 1.4% in March.

At the same time the amount of personal income rose in April by 0.3 % in April, which was slightly lower than the March increase - at 0.5% . Last change coincided with forecasts .

The price index for personal consumption expenditures , which is the preferred sensor for Fed inflation rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.2% compared to March and by 0.2% excluding prices for food and energy . In annual terms, the index increased by 1.6 % and 1.4% , respectively.

The cost of the June gold futures on the COMEX today dropped to $ 1243.8 per ounce.

Gold $1,255.30 -4.00 -0.32%

ICE Brent Crude Oil $110.07 +0.26 +0.24%

NYMEX Crude Oil $103.50 +0.56 +0.54%