Oil prices decline for second straight session

Global oil prices fell in European trade on Thursday away from four-month highs on active profit-taking, and under pressure from the dollar.

The losses are stymied by recent data that showed a drop in US crude stocks for the second straight week in a positive sign for demand. 

Global Oil Prices

US crude fell 0.9% to $80.71 a barrel, while Brent shed 1% to $85.39 a barrel. 

US crude fell 1.6% on Wednesday, while Brent shed 1.4%%, the first loss in six days on profit-taking off four-month highs.

 The Dollar

The dollar index rose 0.5% on Thursday, recouping recent losses against a basket of major rivals.

The recovery comes after a surprise decision by the Swiss National Bank to cut interest rates by 25 basis points as inflation falls below targets. 

US Stocks

The Energy Information Administration reported a drop of 2 million barrels in US crude stocks last week to a toal of 445 million barrels, while analysts expected a drop of 1.2 million barrels.

Gasoline stocks fell 3.3 million barrels to 230.8 million barrels, as distillate stocks rose by 0.6 million barrels to 118.5 million barrels.