国际英语新闻：Crude prices retreat as U.S. inventories jump, dollar strengthens

NEW YORK, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Crude prices retreated on Wednesday as U.S. crude inventories jumped last week while the U.S. dollar strengthened against the euro.

The Energy Department reported that crude inventories rose by 7. 3 million barrels to 351.3 million barrels last week, much higher than analyst's expectation of an increase of 1.67 million barrels.

The report said gasoline stocks fell 2.7 million barrels, more than the 1.3 million forecast.

The U.S. dollar rose against the euro on Wednesday after Fitch Ratings cut Portugal's sovereign credit rating one notch to AA-, putting pressure on the euro.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery lost 1.30 dollars to settle at 80.61 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude was down 1.10 dollars to 79.61 dollars on the ICE futures exchange.