Crude oil futures jumped above $94 a barrel in the Asia electronic session today after the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said tha...
Crude oil futures jumped above $94 a barrel in the Asia electronic session today after the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the Fed would likely hold short-term rates near zero well after the economy reaches the 6.5% unemployment rate that is the threshold for considering a rate increase. However, the gains were limited as the US weekly supplies showed a rise. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a more than 500,000-barrel rise in crude supplies for the week ended Nov. 15. Analysts surveyed by Platts forecast a decline of 500,000 barrels. The API data come ahead of the more closely watched Energy Information Administration report due Wednesday.
Crude oil for January delivery is trading up 35 cents at $ 94.24 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, it tacked on 31 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $93.34 a barrel. The December contract is due to expire at the close on Wednesday.
In the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke he said the Federal Reserve would like to move away from using its balance sheet to help the economy and focus more on "forward guidance" about keeping short-term rates low, but the timing of this shift remains an open question, he said .
In a lengthy speech about Fed communication, Bernanke said the taper timing still depended on continued improvement in the labor market and a pickup in inflation toward the central bank`s 2% target. In new language, Bernanke said rates could even stay near zero until "the preponderance of the data supports the beginning" of tightening.
On the data front today, Japanese exports rose 18.6% from a year earlier in October to Y6.105 trillion, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday, marking the eighth straight month of expansion.
Japan`s trade deficit almost doubled to Y1.091 trillion, compared with a Y556.2 billion deficit in the same month of the previous year. The figure marked the 16th consecutive month in which Japan ran a trade shortfall, the longest string of monthly deficits on record.
MCX December crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 5920 levels with resistance near Rs 5940-70 levels.
Source : Capital Market
