Forexpros – Crude oil futures rose in Asian trading Wednesday, hovering near a two-week high on better-than-expected German sentiment data coupled with a call by the International Monetary Fund to up its global growth forecast to 3.5% this year from 3.3%.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at USD104.74 a barrel, up 0.10%, off from a session high of 104.80 and up from an earlier session low of USD104.61.
Bullish sentiments swept global energy markets after the International Monetary Fund said it expects the global economy to expand by 3.5% in 2012, according to the latest edition of its World Economic Outlook, up from a January forecast for 3.3%.
In Europe, Spain sold 12-month and 18-month bills with no major difficulties, and while yields were high, the country did raise more than it targeted.
Also in Europe, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research reported that its index of German economic sentiment jumped to 23.4 in April from 22.3 in March, much better than analysts’ calls for a decline to 20.0.
Solid earnings in the U.S. fueled hopes for more growth in the world’s largest economy, sending most U.S. blue-chip stocks climbing and with them, markets around the world.
The U.S. housing sector, which threw the country into the downturn and continues to drag its recovery, saw mixed data.
Building permits issued in March rose 4.5%, beating out calls for a 0.7% decline.
However, U.S. housing starts fell to levels not seen since October, tumbling 5.8% to a seasonally adjusted 654,000 units from a revised 694,000 units in February.
Economists were forecasting housing starts to rise 1.0% in March to 705,000 units.
Overall solid economic news fueled hopes the global economy will gain steam despite headwinds and need more oil to recover from the recent downturn.
In the U.S., pipeline operators Enbridge and Enterprise Products Partners have said they would reverse the flow of the Seaway pipeline ahead of schedule and bring more crude from the Midwest to other parts of the country.
The news was bullish for crude in that the move will mop up oversupply in portions of the U.S. Midwest.
The market largely shrugged off President Barack Obama’s announcement to allocate USD52 billion plan to regulate the oil markets by controlling speculators with the aim of lowering gasoline prices.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery were up 0.02% and trading at USD118.66 a barrel, up USD13.92 from its U.S. counterpart.
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