Investing.com – Crude oil futures held on to sharp gains on Wednesday, shrugging off a report showing that U.S. crude supplies rose more-than-expected last week, as market sentiment strengthened a coordinated move by six major central banks to boost the capacity to inject liquidity into the global financial system.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD101.44 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, rallying 1.65%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.9% to trade at USD101.72 a barrel, the highest since November 17, when prices rose to a five-month high of USD103.35 a barrel.
Crude prices traded at USD100.86 prior to the release of the Energy Information Administration data.
The U.S. EIA said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 3.9 million barrels in the week ended November 25, surpassing expectations for a 1.0 million barrel increase.
U.S. crude supplies fell by 6.2 million barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 334.7 million barrels as of last week, remaining in the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels, falling short of expectations for a 1.1 million barrel increase, after rising by 4.5 million barrels in the preceding week.
Oil prices were boosted earlier as investors cheered a coordinated move by six major central banks to boost the capacity to inject liquidity into the global financial system.
In a joint statement, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank said they had agreed to lower dollar swap rates by 0.5% to prevent a lack of liquidity in the global financial system.
The surprise announcement came after the People’s Bank of China said that it plans to cut banks reserve requirement ratios by 0.5%, in an effort to help boost liquidity and support the world’s second largest economy amid global market turmoil.
The U.S. dollar came under broad selling pressure following the announcements. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, tumbled 1.05% to trade at 78.31.
Oil prices also drew support following the release of a flurry of better-than-expected U.S. economic data.
Payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. private sector employment increased by a seasonally adjusted 206,000 in November, blowing past expectations for an increase of 130,000.
The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 130,000 from a previously reported increase of 110,000.
The increase in November was the largest monthly gain since last December and nearly twice the average monthly gain since May when employment decelerated sharply.
Separately, industry data showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago area rose to a seven-month high of 62.6 in November, beating expectations for a reading of 58.6.
Also Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index soared by 10.4% in October, blowing past expectations for a 1.2% increase.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery added 0.8% to trade at USD111.69 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD10.25 a barrel.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD101.44 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, rallying 1.65%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.9% to trade at USD101.72 a barrel, the highest since November 17, when prices rose to a five-month high of USD103.35 a barrel.
Crude prices traded at USD100.86 prior to the release of the Energy Information Administration data.
The U.S. EIA said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 3.9 million barrels in the week ended November 25, surpassing expectations for a 1.0 million barrel increase.
U.S. crude supplies fell by 6.2 million barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 334.7 million barrels as of last week, remaining in the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels, falling short of expectations for a 1.1 million barrel increase, after rising by 4.5 million barrels in the preceding week.
Oil prices were boosted earlier as investors cheered a coordinated move by six major central banks to boost the capacity to inject liquidity into the global financial system.
In a joint statement, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank said they had agreed to lower dollar swap rates by 0.5% to prevent a lack of liquidity in the global financial system.
The surprise announcement came after the People’s Bank of China said that it plans to cut banks reserve requirement ratios by 0.5%, in an effort to help boost liquidity and support the world’s second largest economy amid global market turmoil.
The U.S. dollar came under broad selling pressure following the announcements. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, tumbled 1.05% to trade at 78.31.
Oil prices also drew support following the release of a flurry of better-than-expected U.S. economic data.
Payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. private sector employment increased by a seasonally adjusted 206,000 in November, blowing past expectations for an increase of 130,000.
The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 130,000 from a previously reported increase of 110,000.
The increase in November was the largest monthly gain since last December and nearly twice the average monthly gain since May when employment decelerated sharply.
Separately, industry data showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago area rose to a seven-month high of 62.6 in November, beating expectations for a reading of 58.6.
Also Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index soared by 10.4% in October, blowing past expectations for a 1.2% increase.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery added 0.8% to trade at USD111.69 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD10.25 a barrel.