By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Benchmark Nymex crude-oil futures climbed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low and data unexpectedly showed a contraction in inventory stockpiles.
Oil for September delivery CL1U +3.32% rose $2.24, or 2.8%, to $81.56 a barrel, taking back a portion of recent losses.
In regular trading in New York on Tuesday, oil futures dropped $2.01 to finish at $79.30 a barrel, the lowest price since late September.
The move brought crude’s August losses to 17%, with investors fretting that demand would drop in the wake of slowing global economic growth and sovereign debt woes.
Still, U.S, equity markets ended strongly on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said that it would keep interest rates at ultra-low levels into 2013. See report on Federal Reserve statement.
In addition, late-day data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that oil supplies fell 5.2 million barrels on the week ending Aug. 5. Analysts polled by Platts had expected oil inventories to rise by 1.8 million barrels. Read report on API oil data.
Official data from the Energy Information Administration was due out Wednesday.
Energy analysts at MF Global said that keeping growth on track in as many countries as possible will be key going forward.
“In a best-case scenario, we would like to see commodity prices settle into a sideways trading range for the balance of the year at relatively low levels; this would help keep inflation at bay and allow central banks room to back away from further rate hikes,” they said.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
