Oil hovers below $84 amid light holiday trading
Friday, 26 November 2010
SINGAPORE, Nov 25 (AP): Oil prices hovered below $84 a barrel Thursday in Asia as a rally sparked by improving US economic indicators paused amid light holiday trading.
Benchmark oil for January delivery was down 14 cents to $83.72 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the NewYork Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $2.61, or 3.2 per cent, to settle at $83.86 Wednesday.
Markets in the US are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
A surge in US stock markets Wednesday, which was fuelled by positive signs about the US economy, buoyed oil traders' hopes that demand for fuel will improve.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.4 per cent after reports showed US incomes rose last month and consumer spending climbed for a fifth month while fewer people claimed unemployment benefits last week.
Some analysts expect strong crude demand from developing economies and loose monetary policy in developed countries to push oil prices higher next year.
Benchmark oil for January delivery was down 14 cents to $83.72 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the NewYork Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $2.61, or 3.2 per cent, to settle at $83.86 Wednesday.
Markets in the US are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
A surge in US stock markets Wednesday, which was fuelled by positive signs about the US economy, buoyed oil traders' hopes that demand for fuel will improve.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.4 per cent after reports showed US incomes rose last month and consumer spending climbed for a fifth month while fewer people claimed unemployment benefits last week.
Some analysts expect strong crude demand from developing economies and loose monetary policy in developed countries to push oil prices higher next year.