Crude gains on hopes for fiscal cliff deal, shrugs off data
Published Nov 30, 2012 01:45PM ET
Investors shrugged off soft U.S. data.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD88.62 a barrel on Friday, up 0.62%, off from a session high of USD88.78 and up from an earlier session low of USD87.48.
Energy market participants on Friday kept faith lawmakers will steer the country away from the cliff despite concerns voiced by House Speak John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, who lamented talks on the matter with the Democratically controlled Senate and White House were going "almost nowhere."
Oil also saw support after Germany approved a deal that will free up aid for Greece.
Germany's parliament on Friday gave the plan the green light, which will free up EUR44 billion to flow into the country's coffers in installments and avoid default for now.
Elsewhere, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said earlier the eurozone economy should begin recovering in the second half of 2013, which further boosted sentiments that Europe's economy will avoid messy defaults and will eventually grow again, demanding more energy and fuels in the process.
Energy markets largely dismissed soft U.S. data.
The Chicago purchasing managers' index hit 50.4 in November, up from 49.9 the previous month but short of market calls for a gain to 50.5.
Still, a reading over 50 signifies an expanding economy.
Separately, government data revealed that U.S. personal spending decreased unexpectedly in October, ticking down 0.2% after a 0.8% rise the previous month.
Analysts had expected personal spending to rise 0.2% in October.
U.S. personal income was flat last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% gain following a 0.4% increase in September.
Oil continued to see demand in wake of a Commerce Department report earlier this week that revealed the U.S. gross domestic product grew an annual 2.7% in the third quarter, up from an initial estimate of 2%.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery were up 0.24% and trading at USD111.03 a barrel, up USD22.41from its U.S. counterpart.
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Written By: Investing.com
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