Crude oil futures surged in the late electronic trades today getting some support from the positive start in the US equities. Earlier the commodity fell below $ 79 a barrel following the losses in European equities.
U.S. stock futures were trading in a tight range on Thursday, but were facing a few hurdles, such as big losses in Asia, a European Central Bank meeting, elections in Britain and economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 6 points to 10,840, while those for the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5 points to 1,958. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 1.5 points to 1,163.90
In the latest news today the European Central Bank policymakers met and kept the bank's key lending rate unchanged at a record low 1%. Attention now turns to ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet's monthly news conference, which is expected to be dominated by questions surrounding the European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout for Greece and fears of a sovereign-debt crisis spreading to other nations in southern Europe.
NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures are trading up 6 cents at $ 80.03 per barrel. The commodity seesawed in the range of $ 80.39 - 78.87 tracking moves in the global equity markets. Dollar however is trading higher by nearly a percent against the Euro after the ECB rate decision.
Economic data on the calendar includes weekly jobless claims and first-quarter productivity data due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak about supervisory assessment, as other Fed members are due to deliver speeches on the economy.
Retailers also will be report same-store sales figures for April. April sales at stores open at least a year are expected to be flat to down slightly after they rose a better-than-expected 9% in March, the industry's best monthly performance in more than a decade, according to trade group International Council of Shopping Centers.
MCX May crude futures are trading up Rs 5 at Rs 3629 per barrel. The traders with high-risk appetite may sell it on rallies with target of Rs 3570-60 and stop loss of Rs 3675.
