Crude prices rise as U.S. earnings beat expectations
Published Jul 12, 2013 12:16PM ET
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded up 0.78% at USD105.73 a barrel on Friday, off from a session high of USD105.85 and up from an earlier session low of USD104.38.
U.S. financial institutions JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. reported earnings earlier that beat Wall Street expectations, which sent crude prices rising on sentiments U.S. economic recovery continues.
The U.S. is the world's largest consumer of crude oil.
Wells Fargo reported earnings of USD0.98 a share, beating forecasts for USD0.93 a share, due in part to a stronger housing market, which drew applause in energy markets.
JPMorgan reported earnings of USD1.60 a share, well above consensus forecasts for USD1.44 a share.
Healthy supply data kept prices up as well.
The Energy Information Administration reported earlier this week that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 9.9 million barrels in the week ended July 5, blowing past expectations for a decline of 3.3 million barrels.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 2.6 million barrels, confounding expectations for an increase of 1.2 million barrels.
Elsewhere, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said earlier this week that stimulus programs will stay in place for the foreseeable future, which gave crude support.
Stimulus tools such as the Fed's monthly USD85 billion bond-buying program weaken the greenback to spur recovery, which makes oil an attractive asset on dollar-denominated exchanges.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for August delivery were up 0.83% at USD108.63 a barrel, up USD2.90 from its U.S. counterpart.
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Written By: Investing.com
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