Crude oil futures edged lower to Rs 2,746 per barrel on September 10 as participants increased their short positions.

Prices fell after data by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed higher-than-expected rise in inventory to 3 million barrels for the week-ended September 4 and after US Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its 2020 world oil demand growth forecast by 210,000 barrels per day to 8.32 million bpd in its monthly forecast.

“Halt in the dollar’s recent rise may support oil at lower levels. Crude may remain sideways to lower ahead of EIA’s weekly inventory report,” said Ravindra Rao, VP-Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.

In the futures market, crude oil for September delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 2,798 and a low of Rs 2,649 per barrel on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 2,672 and a high of Rs 3,285.

Crude oil for September delivery slipped Rs 58, or 2.07 percent, to Rs 2,746 per barrel at 15:11 hours IST on a business turnover of 3,601 lots. The same for October delivery declined Rs 59, or 2.08 percent, to Rs 2,782 per barrel on a business volume of 195 lots.

The value of September and October’s contracts traded so far is Rs 706.09 crore and Rs 5 crore, respectively.

Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities, expects oil prices to trade sideways to down for the day, with MCX September Crude Oil futures has support at Rs 2,670 and resistance at Rs 2,830 per barrel.

West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 1.89 percent at $37.33 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark, was up 1.54 percent to $40.16 per barrel.