Crude soars as U.S. stockpiles rise less than expected
Published Apr 24, 2013 01:05PM ET
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded up 2.07% at USD91.03 a barrel on Wednesday, off from a session high of USD91.15 and up from an earlier session low of USD89.22.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported earlier that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 947,000 barrels last week, well below market calls for a gain of 1.513 million barrels, which sparked a rally in energy markets.
Oil inventories fell by 1.233 million barrels during the week before last.
Gasoline inventories, meanwhile, fell by 3.928 million barrels compared with a decline of 633,000 barrels in the preceding week.
Analysts were expecting U.S. gasoline inventories to fall 175,000.
Meanwhile, growing speculation that the European Central Bank will trim interest rates sent oil prices climbing as well.
ECB officials have suggested they will cut interest rates if economic indicators continue to worsen.
Industrial output and service-sector production figures have disappointed investors in recent trading sessions, and earlier Wednesday, a widely watched business confidence barometer missed expectations in the eurozone's largest economy.
In Europe earlier, the Ifo index of German business climate fell to a four-month low of 104.4 in April from 106.7 in March.
Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 106.2.
Elsewhere on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery were up 1.34% at USD101.66 a barrel, up USD10.63 from its U.S. counterpart.
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Written By: Investing.com
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