Oil moves off session lows, eyes US inventory data

Oil prices trade little slightly lower on the day, although having recovered from daily lows over the last hours as focus turns to US inventory data.

Oil retreated from near $51.00 a barrel, level reached after the release of US inflation data, and fell to a low of $50.12/bbl before finding support. Spot was last trading at $50.30, still 0.28% below its opening price. 

The greenback initially weakened but then turned higher after data showed US CPI rose 0.3% in September and 1.5% YoY, its  largest 12-month increase since October 2014, both matching expectations. The core CPI, which excludes, volatile categories such as food and energy, rose 0.1% in September and 2.2% YoY, slightly below the 2.3% expected.

Investors attention now turns to US weekly inventory data. Industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) is due to release its weekly report at 20:30 GMT. Meanwhile, official data from the Energy Information Administration will be published Wednesday at 14:30 GMT, with consensus calling for a 2.4 million barrels build last week.