International News

SINGAPORE, (APP/AFP) – Oil prices rebounded
in Asia Thursday thanks to a weak dollar and bargain-hunting a day after the commodity sank to fresh two-month lows.
Both main contracts tumbled more than four percent Wednesday after
official US data showed a smaller than expected decline in crude stockpiles, adding to fears that a supply glut might not be easing as quickly as expected.
Commercial inventories fell 2.5 million barrels in the week ended
July 8 but still remained at historically high levels while production, which had been steadily falling, increased.
Adding to the disappointment about the disappointing reading was the
fact it came during the July 4 Independence Day holiday and at the height of the summer driving season.
However, the sharp drop provided dealers with an incentive to buy a
low prices, while a rally in the dollar over the past week was pared, making it even cheaper for anyone holding other currencies.
At about 0400 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 61
cents, or 1.36 percent, at $45.36 while Brent crude rose 57 cents, or 1.23 percent, to $46.83.
“Every time we have seen these big pullbacks, there is quite a lot of
strong buying around that $44, $45 level,” Angus Nicholson, a markets analyst in Melbourne at IG Ltd., told Bloomberg News.