Published on June 16, 2011
Oil was up in Asian trade on Thursday as traders engaged in bargain-hunting after crude prices slid below USD 95 per barrel in overnight trade, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for July delivery, rose 48 cents to USD 95.29 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August gained 99 cents to USD 114.00 on its first trading day.
Bargain-hunting traders were buying up crude after its overnight dip, said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst at Purvin and Gertz international energy consultancy.
“Traders view this as a buying opportunity after oil prices tumbled,” he told.
WTI crude prices had dived more than USD 4.50 in late US trade on Wednesday, sinking below USD 95 as investors fretted about fresh signs of weakness in the US economy and tensions in Greece sent the dollar jumping.
Data from the US released Wednesday showed manufacturing conditions in New York falling into negative territory for the first time since November 2010 as inflation rates soared to their highest level in more than two-and-a-half years.
Markets had also been rattled by the failure of eurozone finance ministers to reach an accord in Brussels Tuesday on a second bailout package aimed at averting a Greek debt default, sending the dollar sharply higher against the euro.