Oil Holds Gains In Asia

Oil......

Crude oil futures held on to its gains near $ 105 a barrel levels in the Asia electronic trades today buoyed by the positive data from US. Positive economic news tends to boost oil prices since it raises expectations about improvement in energy demand. Data Thursday showed a 4.2% jump in U.S. durable-goods orders for June, the third straight big monthly gain. The first estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product in the U.K. showed 0.6% quarterly growth, in line with expectations. Crude oil for September delivery is trading up 6 cents at $ 105.55 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, it added 10 cents, or 0.1%, to end at $105.49 a barrel after touching a low of $104.08 in electronic trading. Oil prices on Wednesday fell 1.7% after an HSBC report showed preliminary manufacturing activity in China — among the world’s largest oil consumers. Taking a look at the long term, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s International Energy Outlook report on Thursday released a forecast that world energy consumption will grow by 56% between 2010 and 2040 to 820 quadrillion British thermal units from 524 quadrillion Btus. Most of the growth will come from countries that aren’t part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The EIA didn’t release an international energy outlook report in 2012. In 2011, it said it expected world energy consumption to grow by 53% from 2008 to 2035. On the data front today, Japan's consumer prices managed to register mild inflation in June compared with a year earlier, data out Friday from the Finance Ministry showed. The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh-food costs, rose 0.4% from June 2012, though it was unchanged compared to May's levels. MCX August crude oil futures may open today’s session near Rs 6235 levels with support around Rs 6200 and resistance near Rs 6290 levels. Source by Commodity Insights