OIL prices fell yesterday as traders retreated from early optimism about the health of corporate America and focused on the government's weeklypetroleum inventories report due today.

Benchmark crude for November delivery lost 34 cents to settle at US$76.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose as high as US$77.12 a barrel earlier in the session.

Traders mulled the Conference Board's monthly report on consumer confidence, which fell to its lowest level since February. Things looked brighter in Europe, where the latest data showed Germans grew more confident in their nation's economic recovery.

U.S. investors applauded corporate deals that included Endo Pharmaceuticals US$1.2 billion bid for Qualitest Pharmaceuticals. That followed Monday's announcements that Southwest Airlines will buy AirTran Airways and Wal-Mart plans to acquire South African retailer Massmart. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 70 points higher in late afternoon trading. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ were up as well.

Energy traders are looking ahead to the government's weekly report on petroleum supplies for signs that huge inventories of crude will start to fall, according to Andrew Lebow, a senior vice president and broker at MF Global.

Most traders "are anticipating that as we head into the fourth quarter and into the first quarter that we're going to start to see the U.S. stock overhang to work off slowly but surely," he said. "As a result, they think that prices could appreciate modestly."

The Energy Department releases data on oil and gasoline inventories on Wednesday. A significant drop in supplies may not show up in this week's report. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., expect that crude oil inventories grew by 2.2 million barrels, gasoline supplies increased by 800,000 barrels and distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, expanded by 400,000 barrels.

In other trading on the Nymex, heating oil added 0.17 cent to settle at US$2.1245 a gallon, gasoline gave up 0.09 cent to settle at US$1.9479 a gallon and natural gas gained 3.7 cents to settle at US$3.837 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude rose 14 cents to settle at US$78.71 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• weekly [´wi:kli] a.&ad.每周一次(的) (初中英语单词)
• barrel [´bærəl] n.(琵琶)桶；圆筒 (初中英语单词)
• conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
• acquire [ə´kwaiə] vt.求得，获得，学得 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• appreciate [ə´pri:ʃieit] v.评价；珍惜；感激 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中英语单词)
• session [´seʃən] n.会议；会期；(开庭)期 (高中英语单词)
• monthly [´mʌnθli] a.每月(的) n.月刊 (高中英语单词)
• consumer [kən´sju:mə] n.消费者；用户 (高中英语单词)
• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• southwest [,sauθ´west] n.&a.西南(方)(的) (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• gasoline [´gæsəli:n] n.汽油 (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
• gallon [´gælən] n.加伦 (高中英语单词)
• petroleum [pi´trəuliəm] n.石油 (英语四级单词)
• broker [´brəukə] n.经纪人，掮客 (英语四级单词)
• overhang [,əuvə´hæŋ] vt.悬于...之上；逼近 (英语六级单词)