West Texas Intermediate fell for a third day as U.S. crude stockpiles increased and the dollar strengthened against the euro.

Prices slid as much as 0.7 percent. Inventories rose by 4.09 million barrels to 383.9 million last week, the highest level since June, the Energy Information Administration said yesterday. The euro declined the most since June versus the dollar as inflation in the euro region unexpectedly dropped. WTI’s discount to Brent shrank from the widest in seven months.

WTI for December delivery slid 50 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $96.27 a barrel at 10:43 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It settled at a four-month low of $96.77 yesterday. The volume of all futures traded was 9.5 percent below the 100-day average. Prices have retreated 5.9 percent in October.

Brent for December settlement dropped 91 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $108.95 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 4.4 percent above the 100-day average. The European benchmark’s premium to WTI was $12.68. Earlier, it touched $13.58, the most since April.

Gold prices fell after Wednesday night's U.S. Federal Reserve announced that it will continue its program of incentives, noting some improvement in the U.S. economy.

Gold prices fell by 19% in 2013, while investors expect the U.S. economy will force the gain to curtail the Fed's program to purchase assets. Some investors buy gold as a hedge against the risks of accelerating inflation , which can be a result of the policy of "cheap money " pursued by the central bank.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Committee on the open market operations of the Fed said that it will continue to implement a program to purchase bonds worth 85 billion dollars a month. Fed officials also pointed to the fact that the economy continued to recover at a moderate pace , and the situation on the labor market has improved .

Shopping in the physical markets of Asia, especially in China, has slowed in recent weeks due to the increase and price fluctuations. The prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange below the world because of the fear of shortage of cash.

The cost of the December gold futures on COMEX today dropped to $ 1320.80 per ounce.

GOLD 1,344.00 -1.50 -0.11%

OIL (WTI) 96.72 -1.48 -1.51%