Oil Edges Up As Yen Slumps

Oil......
Crude oil futures edged up in the Asia electronic session today as the Yen slumped thereby increasing the carry trades and appetite for risky asset class.
Japan’s currency fell Tuesday, struggling at four-year lows against the U.S. dollar as it extended its dive in the wake of fresh Japanese monetary stimulus. The U.S. dollar bought 99.40 yen in Asian trade, compared with ¥99.21 in North American trade late Monday.
The yen on Monday marked its lowest level against the dollar since April 2009 after the Bank of Japan made its first government bond purchases since announcing last week that it would add some $1.4 trillion to the economy over the next two years as it seeks to curb deflation.
On the data front today, China's March consumer price index rose 2.1% from a year earlier. The result marked a considerable cooling from February's 3.2% rise, though was still above January's 2% inflation rate.
Crude oil for May delivery is trading up 23 cents at $ 93.59 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, it gained 66 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $93.36 a barrel. The contract had touched an intraday high of $93.75.
Oil on Friday fell 56 cents, or 0.6%, to $92.70 a barrel, locking in a weekly loss of 4.7% after a soft U.S. jobs report. The Labor Department said the U.S. economy in March created 88,000 new jobs, well below expectations for a gain of 190,000 new hires.
Last week, prospects for weak energy demand were the focus for the oil market, with the rough week for oil including a report of a slowdown in U.S. private-payrolls growth, and separate figures showing a bigger-than-expected increase in weekly crude supplies.
Also dimming the demand picture were data that activity in euro-zone factories contracted at a faster pace in March, and a report that manufacturing activity in the U.S. declined last month.
Looking ahead, several monthly reports on the energy market will be released this week. The Energy Information Administration’s Short-term Energy Outlook Report is due Tuesday, while oil reports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Paris-based International Energy Agency are due on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
MCX April crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 5100 levels with resistance near Rs 5125-30 levels.
Source by Commodity Insights