Despite strength in the US dollar, crude oil prices gained on Wednesday, mainly on the back of better-than-expected economic data from US released yesterday.
Big gains in the US private jobs sector supported oil prices on Wednesday. Prices traded higher by more than 1percent on the Nymex and touched an intra-day high of $90.84/bbl yesterday.
In addition to this, sharp decline in the US crude oil inventories also helped prices to trade above $90 on Wednesday.
On the MCX, oil prices rallied more than 2 percent yesterday, as depreciation of the Indian Rupee further supported crude oil prices on the domestic bourses on Wednesday.
EIA Inventory Data
The US Energy Department (EIA) reported yesterday that crude oil inventories in the US declined sharply by 4.16 million barrels to reach 335.3 million barrels in the week ending 31st December.
But, Gasoline inventories rose 3.3 million barrels to reach 218.1 million barrels and distillate inventories also increased by 1.1 million barrels to reach 162.1 million barrels in the same week.
Natural gas
Natural Gas prices declined almost 3 percent on the Nymex on Wednesday, to close at $4.476/mmBtu. As per the Reuters poll, US natural gas inventories are expected to decline by 133 billion cubic feet (bcf) for the week ending 31st December.
Natural gas prices declined more than 2.5 percent on the MCX, hitting an intra-day low of `204.6 on Wednesday.
Outlook Crude Oil
Crude oil prices will take cues from the movement in the DX today and economic updates from the US to be released later in the evening. Crude oil prices are expected to trade higher mainly due to weakness in the US dollar which will help prices to rise. Any positive data would further support oil prices in today’s trading session.
