U.S. oil futures fluctuate ahead of retail sales data

 U.S. oil futures swung between small gains and losses on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to key U.S. economic data later in the day to further gauge the strength of the economy and the need for stimulus.

The U.S. is to produce data on retail sales as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in January traded at USD97.51 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.1%. New York-traded oil futures traded in a range between USD97.32 a barrel and USD97.61 a barrel.

Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at USD96.31 a barrel, the low from December 4 and resistance at USD98.75 a barrel, the high from December 11.

The January contract rose to USD98.75 a barrel on Wednesday, the highest since October 22, before turning lower to settle down 1.09% at USD97.44 a barrel.

Oil futures came under pressure on Wednesday after a bipartisan budget deal from Congress raised expectations that the Federal Reserve could start to taper its bond-buying program at next week's policy meeting.

The central bank is scheduled to meet December 17-18 to review the economy and assess monetary policy.

Also Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 10.6 million barrels to 375.2 million last week.

The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories increased by 6.7 million barrels, compared to expectations for a gain of 1.8 million barrels.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for January delivery inched down 0.1% to trade at USD109.60 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at USD12.09 a barrel.