Oil futures finished lower on Thursday for a third straight session. The loss follows a more than 16 million-barrel weekly increase in U.S. crude inventories reported by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. “The supply side of the equation remains very bearish and will likely knock prices away from the top of the downtrend channel, especially if Chinese energy demand hopes are dampened,” analysts at Zaner wrote in Thursday commentary. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH23 fell 10 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $78.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.