Crude Oil Inventories fell unexpectedly

Oil futures turned higher Thursday after government data showed an unexpected drop in crude inventories last week. The Energy Information Administration said crude-oil stocks fell by 1.616 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 16. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 1.9 million barrel rise.

Unemployment Claims decreased to 222,000

In the week ending February 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 222,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 230,000 to 229,000. The 4-week moving average was 226,000, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average.  Claims taking procedures in Puerto Rico and in the Virgin Islands have still not returned to normal.

Fed Minutes: Worries on inflation and wage growth

Federal Reserve policymakers expressed a cautious outlook on wage growth amid a "few signs of a broad-based pickup in wage growth," but remained confident that inflation would "move up this year," according to the minutes of the Fed's January policy meeting. "Inflation on a 12-month basis was expected to move up this year and to stabilize around the Committee’s 2 percent objective over the medium term," the minutes showed. "While some participants heard more reports of wage pressures from their business contacts over the intermeeting period, participants generally noted few signs of a broad-based pickup in wage growth in available data,” the minutes showed.

USD - Major events in the week ahead

Events that marked the week:

Wednesday brought CPI and Retail Sales figures. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.1 percent before seasonal adjustment. The seasonally adjusted increase in the all items index was broad-based, with increases in the indexes for gasoline, shelter, apparel, medical care, and food all contributing. The energy index rose 3.0 percent in January, with the increase in the gasoline index more than offsetting declines in other energy component indexes.