Oil rose the most since early November as investors increased confidence in China’s demand outlook.
The rise of more than three dollars in West Texas Intermediate on Tuesday followed increases in most of Saudi Aramco’s official selling prices for shipments to Asia in March. Oil’s recovery accelerated late in the session as Wall Street investors responded positively to comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday.
Oil has fluctuated in a relatively tight $10 range so far this year. As traders await further signs of stronger Chinese demand, signs of oversupply are tempering near-term optimism. Those watching oil closely will be tuning in Wednesday for the release of weekly inventory data from the Energy Information Administration.
“In the grand scheme of things, you basically have the contrasting forces of rising inventories and a bullish demand outlook,” said Daniel Ghali, commodities strategist at TD Securities.
Prices:
- WTI for March delivery rose $3.03 to settle at $77.14 a barrel in New York.
- Brent for April settlement rose $2.70 to settle at $83.69 a barrel
