BLBG : Oil Pares Losses as Asian Equities Rises; Traders Bet on Demand
Crude oil pared losses as Asian equities rose, prompting traders to buy back contracts on bets global energy demand will recover.
Oil traded above $73 a barrel after the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed to a 13-month high, reversing losses that came on concern demand from refiners may fall as they shut plants for maintenance works prior to the northern hemisphere winter.
“Equities may be supporting the market,” said Ryoma Furumi at brokers Newedge in Tokyo. “We haven’t seen or heard of anything that’s directly impacting oil buying.”
Crude oil for November delivery was at $73.44 a barrel, up 17 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:45 p.m. in Singapore. The contract earlier fell as much as 0.7 percent to $70.84 a barrel. Futures have gained 57 percent this year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Yee Kai Pin in Singapore at kyee13@bloomberg.net
