Oil rebounds on weaker dollar
18/03/2015 09:47
Crude oil futures rose in the domestic market on Tuesday as investors and speculators booked fresh positions in the energy commodity as a weaker dollar boosted the demand for oil as an alternative asset. Weaker greenback makes crude cheaper for those holding other currencies, thus boosting demand. However, the gains in the fuel were curbed by an uptick in US oil stockpiles last week which signaled weakening demand for the fuel in the world’s biggest crude consumer. US crude supplies climbed 10.5 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said. Further, US housing starts plunged at the sharpest pace since 2011 last month, signaling a faltering housing market recovery in the world’s biggest economy, dimming the demand outlook for the fuel. Starts fell 17 per cent to an annualized rate of 897,000 in February 2015 from the previous month. Crude oil may fall today ahead of EIA data which may show that US stockpiles surged to a fresh record last week, threatening to worsen a global supply glut. At the MCX, Crude oil futures, for the March 2015 contract, closed at Rs 2,759 per barrel, up by 0.66 per cent, after opening at Rs 2,754, against the previous close price of Rs 2,741. It touched an intraday high of Rs 2,782 till the closing.
18/03/2015 09:47
Crude oil futures rose in the domestic market on Tuesday as investors and speculators booked fresh positions in the energy commodity as a weaker dollar boosted the demand for oil as an alternative asset. Weaker greenback makes crude cheaper for those holding other currencies, thus boosting demand. However, the gains in the fuel were curbed by an uptick in US oil stockpiles last week which signaled weakening demand for the fuel in the world’s biggest crude consumer. US crude supplies climbed 10.5 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said. Further, US housing starts plunged at the sharpest pace since 2011 last month, signaling a faltering housing market recovery in the world’s biggest economy, dimming the demand outlook for the fuel. Starts fell 17 per cent to an annualized rate of 897,000 in February 2015 from the previous month. Crude oil may fall today ahead of EIA data which may show that US stockpiles surged to a fresh record last week, threatening to worsen a global supply glut. At the MCX, Crude oil futures, for the March 2015 contract, closed at Rs 2,759 per barrel, up by 0.66 per cent, after opening at Rs 2,754, against the previous close price of Rs 2,741. It touched an intraday high of Rs 2,782 till the closing.
