MW: Crude holds gains after U.S. data, awaits stockpiles report
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose Wednesday, on the rebound after five sessions of losses, but investors will be watching closely for what a government report on U.S. inventories for last week shows.
The Energy Information Administration's data are due out at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
Crude for May delivery, the most active contract, added 68 cents, or 0.8%, to $84.74 a barrel in the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Going into the report, we have a pretty bullish landscape," with the stock market rising and positive U.S. economic data, said James Cordier, a portfolio manager at OptionSellers.com in Tampa.
"The bulls think oil is quite on sale today. Lots of people bought it at $88 (a barrel) just a few days ago, Cordier added.
Still, "all bets are off" if the figures for U.S. inventories come in much higher than anticipated, he said.
Analysts polled by Platts expect an increase of 1.6 million barrels in crude supplies last week as well as a build-up of 1 million barrels in distillate stocks. They also project a decline of 1.26 million barrels in gasoline supplies.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude supplies rose by 1.4 million barrels during the week ended April 9, with gasoline increasing by 1.6 million barrels and distillates also higher.
Also Wednesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left unchanged its forecast for global oil demand in 2010.
Consumption is projected to increase by 900,000 barrels a day this year, the oil cartel said in its monthly report.
"Economic activities in the U.S. are playing the wild card for the world oil demand growth," the cartel said. "All the expected growth in oil demand this year is projected to come from the non-OECD region led by Asia. Overall, most growth will come from transport and petrochemical sectors worldwide."
OPEC's update "was a fairly benign one," analysts at Barclays Capital said in a report.
Wednesday's round of economic indicators also bode well for oil. U.S. retail sales grew by 1.6% in March, outpacing forecasts, as consumer prices rose a mere 0.1% in March, largely in line with expectations.
Oil futures ended marginally lower on Tuesday, extending losses for a fifth session.
