Crude oil rose for the first time in a week as equities in the US, the world’s biggest oil user, rallied and the Federal Reserve said some of the country’s biggest regional economies slowed the pace of their decline.
Oil gained as much as 1.2 per cent after stocks climbed in the last hour of trading yesterday.
Fed districts reporting a slower economic decline or signs of stabilization include San Francisco, the largest district, New York, Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas, the Fed said in its Beige Book business survey.
“The sentiment is becoming more bullish for all commodities, perhaps prematurely but that is the market,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“With the speculation that things aren’t getting as bad as they were previously, it’s providing support to commodity prices.”
Crude oil for May delivery climbed as much as $1.05, or 2.1 per cent, to $50.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices are up 11 percent so far this year.
Yesterday, oil fell 16 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $49.25 a barrel, the lowest settlement on the Nymex since April 7th, after a government report showed that US stockpiles climbed to the highest level in almost 19 years as demand dropped.
Bloomberg