Singapore, September 17: Oil prices held above USD 72 a barrel on Thursday in Asia amid signs the US economy, the world’s largest consumer of crude, has stopped shrinking.
Benchmark crude for October delivery was down 35 cents to USD 72.16 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Wednesday, the contract rose USD 1.58 to settle at USD 72.51 on news that US manufacturing is improving. The Federal Reserve said industrial activity surged 0.8 percent in August, better than the 0.6 percent increase economists had forecast.
The Fed also revised July’s figures to a 1 percent increase, twice as much as originally reported.
The news cheered stock and oil investors. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.1 percent on Wednesday and all major Asian indexes gained in early Thursday trading.
Inventory data from the Energy Information Agency on Wednesday was mixed. Crude supplies dropped 4.7 million barrels last week, but gasoline stocks increased by 500,000 barrels and inventories of distillate fuels used for diesel fuel and heating oil rose by 2.2 million barrels.
A weaker US dollar has helped support oil prices. The euro rose Thursday in Asian trading to USD 1.4727 from USD 1.4706 the previous day while the dollar rose to 91.07 yen from 90.88 yen,
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery was steady at USD 1.85 a gallon, and heating oil fell 0.78 cent to USD 1.82 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 2.0 cents to USD 3.74 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for November delivery rose 37 cents to USD 71.30.
–Agencies