Oil Books a Loss Ahead Of Crude-inventory Reports

Oil futures on Tuesday finished in negative territory, after struggling for direction throughout much the session, as traders continued to assess OPEC's preliminary output deal, ahead of weekly data that are expected to show an increase in U.S. crude supplies. November West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed 12 cents, or 0.2%, lower at $48.69 a barrel, while December Brent crude-oil settled little-changed off 2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to end at $50.87 a barrel. A surge in the dollar on heightened expectations about a rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its coming December meeting, helped push the greenback higher, weighing on assets priced in the currency, like oil and gold . Crude-oil traders are awaiting an update due Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration on weekly petroleum supplies. The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, releases its own figures later Tuesday.