Oil Gains Slightly In Asia

Oil.......

Crude oil futures gained slightly in the Asia electronic session today taking some cues from gains in the equities and on some value buying after the commodity tumbled under $94 a barrel. Japanese stocks barreled higher Friday as the promise of unprecedented monetary stimulus spurred a fresh wave of buying, propelled by exporters and the real-estate sector. Their performance contrasted sharply with deep losses in Hong Kong and other regional markets, as investors digested an increase in U.S. jobless claims and braced for key employment data from the world's largest economy later Friday. Crude-oil futures for May delivery are trading up 8 cents at $ 93.34 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, it shed $1.19, or 1.3%, to settle at $93.26 a barrel. Oil futures settled below $94 a barrel Thursday, as comments from the European Central Bank's president about downside risks to the region's economic recovery raised worries about energy demand. Prices also fell ahead of the nonfarm payrolls report due Friday, which will be scoured for hints on the progress of recovery in the U.S. At the ECB's monthly news conference, Draghi acknowledged that the recovery in the second half of the year is still at risk of being thrown off course. Meanwhile, both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England left rates at record lows. In Japan, the nation's central bank pledged to achieve a 2% inflation target in about two years and announced plans to increase government bond purchases at an annual pace of 50 trillion yen ($530 billion). The contract settled down $2.74 at $94.45 a barrel on Wednesday, hurt by a bigger-than-expected increase in last week's U.S. crude supplies and a slowdown in private-payrolls growth. The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday U.S. refinery utilization of 84.1% of capacity for the week ended March 29, up from 83.1% a week earlier. MCX April crude oil futures may open today's session near Rs 5120 levels with resistance near Rs 5170 and support near Rs 5090 levels. Source  by Commodity Insights