Crude Oil Free Trial

MCX Crude oil futures are trading mildly lower today, extending the recent correction as global prices lingered around $88 per barrel levels and equities around the world stayed under pressure on economic worries and profit selling after recent upside moves. A surge in US gasoline inventories and a persistent pressure on the US dollar to appreciate also made their presence felt to keep the commodity under check.

WTI Crude oil dropped by around 1% in floor trades in New York, extending a drop after failing to hold on above $89 per barrel. The weekly US EIA data showed a massive rise in gasoline stockpiles in the United States last week. An increase in production by US refiners helped boost gasoline inventories by the biggest weekly margin since September 2001, the EIA said, with stocks rising by 7.9 million barrels.
US stocks witnessed a late surge yesterday after media reports stated that a group of Republicans had signed a letter urging the exploration of “all options” on taxes and entitlement programs. However, untill a confirmation is delivered by the officials, these talks are unlikely to help lift the sentiments much.

MCX Crude oil futures dropped nearly Rs 40 on the day in last session and also tested lows under Rs 4800 per barrel today as trading remained dominated by short sellers. The counter quotes at Rs 4794, down Rs 23 per barrel on the day with 5.44% increase in the open interest.

Crude Oil Free Trial

Crude oil futures are trading lower in Asia electronic trades today as there is lack of cues in the market.

Most Asian markets rallied Friday, buoyed by signs of an improvement in global manufacturing, with mainland Chinese stocks rebounding from a drop the previous day.

Preliminary readings from HSBC Thursday showed China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.4 in November, signaling the first expansion in more than a year. HSBC data released during the European day also showed that while the region’s factories remained in contraction, business their conditions improved to an eight-month high.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.4% after a lower start, China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 0.6% and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched up 0.1%, staying on course for a five-day winning streak.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 30 points, or 0.2%, to 12,830 after Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.

Crude oil futures for January delivery traded at $87.12 a barrel at down 0.26% on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It earlier traded at a session low $86.71 a barrel.

US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.17% to trade at $80.70.

MCX December crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 4830 levels with support near Rs 4800 levels.

Crude Oil Free Trial

Crude oil futures surged in the Asia electronic session today after the data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity improved for the first time in more than a year in November.
Oil also got support from the falling dollar, a surprise decline in last week’s U.S. crude inventories and uncertainty in the Middle East despite a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration early Wednesday confirmed the surprise decline in last week’s crude inventories that was initially reported by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday. The EIA reported that crude supplies fell by 1.5 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 16.
The data released today showed that, Chinese manufacturing activity improved for the first time in more than a year in November, the preliminary reading of a survey by HSBC showed Thursday. In October, the final reading of the HSBC China manufacturing PMI came in at 49.5. The flash, or preliminary reading, is based on about 85% to 90% of the responses in HSBC's survey.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for January delivery is trading up 81 cents to $87.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asia trading hours. Yesterday, it settled at $87.38 a barrel for a gain of 0.7%.
Nymex floor trading was scheduled to close Thursday for Thanksgiving, with an abbreviated session slated for Friday.
A lower dollar also helped crude, as the ICE dollar, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, slipped to 80.835, compared with 80.937 in late North American trade Wednesday.
MCX December crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 4830 levels with resistance near Rs 4860 and Rs 4900 levels.

Crude Oil Free Trial

Crude oil futures headed towards $86 a barrel in Asia electronic trades today as the demand concerns washed away post the super storm hurricane.

Light sweet crude futures for delivery in December are trading up 10 cents at $ 85.78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, New York-traded oil prices rose by as much as 0.8% earlier in the session to hit a daily high of $86.24 a barrel. On Monday, futures fell to $84.70 a barrel, the weakest level since July 12.

Sandy’s storm surge neared 14 feet, driving water into the still-open construction pit at the World Trade Center and flooding parts of the New York subway system. President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island.

Asian shares advanced on Wednesday, with investors eyeing local earnings results and the impact from super storm Sandy in the U.S. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average advanced 1% after losing 1% in the previous session. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index also gained 0.7%. In China, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.6%, but the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2%.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said it will postpone the release of its weekly report on oil stockpiles from Wednesday due to storm-related delays. The data may be published November 1, according to the EIA.

Elsewhere, in the euro zone, sentiment firmed up after official data showed that the Spanish economy contracted by 0.3% in the third quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.4% contraction. The data came a day after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that he would request a bailout "when I think it is in the interests of Spain".

A bailout would allow the European Central Bank to step in and buy Spanish sovereign debt, which would result in reduced borrowing costs for the debt-strapped nation. But Spain has been reluctant to do so because it may come with conditions on its budget. Also Tuesday, Italy’s Treasury sold EUR3 billion worth of debt maturing in November 2022 at an average yield of 4.92%, the lowest level since May 2011 down from 5.24% at a similar auction last month.

MCX November crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 4660 levels with resistance near Rs 4690 levels.

MCX Crude Oil Updates

Crude oil is trading in a positive manner today, bouncing off its three month lows on bargain hunting and weakness in US dollar. WTI Crude oil futures had slipped amid thin trading today to test levels near $85 per barrel as Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States, shut East Coast refineries, roads and airports, reducing crude and fuel products demand in US. The WTI futures, however, recovered from these levels and soared in European trades as British Petroleum (BP), Europe's second-biggest oil company, raised its dividend as third-quarter profit beat analysts' estimates. The commodity quotes at $85.99, up 45 cents per barrel on the day.

However, the economic data in Europe was grim. German jobless rate increased for the first time in three years as the sovereign debt crisis damped economic growth and investment. The number of people out of work climbed a seasonally adjusted 20,000 from September to 2.94 million, the Federal Labor Agency in Nuremberg said today. The adjusted unemployment rate jumped from a two-decade low of 6.8%in August to a revised 6.9% in September and stood at the same level in October.

Earlier in the day, the Bank Of Japan (BOJ) increased the size of its asset purchase program by JPY11 trillion at today's policy meeting, amid concerns over the deteriorating economic outlook and growing political pressure to step up measures to combat deflation. In a joint statement with the central bank, Economics Minister Seiji Maehara said the new measures were an important step towards defeating deflation. However, these measures were a little less than what the markets were expecting after last week's announcement of a stimulus package by the government-fueled expectations of even more aggressive steps.

Spain's economy contracted for a fifth quarter, notwithstanding efforts to plug the budget deficit that's pushing the nation closer to a bailout, while austerity measures kept inflation at a 17-month high. Gross domestic product dropped 0.3% in the three months through September and 1.6% from a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute said today.

BP noted that refining margins improved in the third quarter. BP's refining marker margin, a generic measure of global profitability, rose to $19.50 a barrel in the period from $15.84 in the three months through June. It also said that third-quarter production, excluding the Russian TNK-BP venture, dropped 3% to 2.26 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.

The activity in the world markets is rather thin as the major US markets were closed overnight and will remain closed tonight as the US east coast deals with the impact of superstorm Sandy. The gains in WTI futures in electronic moves led to a steady pickup in local futures as well and the MCX November contract gained from a low of Rs 4625 per barrel. The counter quotes at Rs 4673 per barrel right now, up Rs 25 per barrel on the day.

Crude Oil Updates

MCX Crude oil futures maintained a positive bias as a recovery in global prices supported the counter. The commodity has been buffeted by worries over global economic growth and traders have been unable to carve out a clear-cut direction amid Middle East supply worries. The prices neared $92 per barrel in London amid a positive undertone in world equities and currently trade at $91.94, up 8 cents per barrel on the day. 

New European passenger car registrations continued their downward trend, falling for the twelfth straight month in September. Demand for new cars was down 10.8%, amounting to 1,099,264 units, compared with September 2011. Nine months into the year, the downturn reached 7.6%, with a total of 9,368,327 new cars registered in the EU. 

The advanced economies were still growing only modestly or contracting, although financial market conditions had improved over the past month following additional monetary policy measures and further progress in addressing the banking and fiscal problems in Europe. Growth in East Asia, including China, had slowed a little further, according to the minutes of the latest interest rate meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released today. 

Last week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) cut oil demand growth forecast for the current year yet again amid weak economic scenario around the world. In its monthly oil market report the IEA revised its expectations of global oil demand growth to 700,000 barrels a day this year. However, the agency kept its 2013 demand growth forecast unchanged at 800,000 barrels a day. The sluggish oil demand was met last month by a decline in supply from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which fell to an eight-month low in September, the IEA said.

Meanwhile, the Euro broke above 1.3000 levels against the US dollar, broadly maintaining a bounce from its two-week lows on media reports that Spain is ready to make a formal request for aid, allowing the European Central Bank to buy its sovereign debt, but is delaying an announcement due to concern about the effect on other euro-zone members. The MCX Crude oil futures are quoting at Rs 4866, up Rs 34 per barrel on the day with 9.46% increase in open interest.