2017.05.2314:36:00UTC+00Crude Oil On The Rise Ahead Of OPEC, Inventories

Crude oil futures inched higher Tuesday, ahead of U.S. inventories data that may show stockpiles continued to dwindle from record levels.

The American Petroleum Institute releases its weekly report this afternoon, whole the Energy Information Administration reports tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs downgraded the energy sector amid concerns that rig count growth will "flatten out" over the next few years.

OPEC meets Thursday in Vienna. Analysts say OPEC will extend its deal with Russia on supply quotas for at least nine months.

July WTI oil settled at $51.47/bbl, up 34 cents, or 0.7%.

After reporting an unexpected jump in U.S. new home sales in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a substantial pullback in new home sales in the month of April.

The Commerce Department said new home sales plunged by 11.4 percent to an annual rate of 569,000 in April from an upwardly revised 642,000 in March.

Elsewhere, Germany's Ifo business confidence score reached its highest level on record since 1991.