WSJ:OIL FUTURES: Crude Rises On Positive US Data, Hope For Greece Bailout
By Mari Iwata
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Crude oil futures rose Friday in Asia as market sentiment improved due to upbeat economic data from the U.S. overnight.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for delivery in March traded at $102.64 a barrel at 0715 GMT, up $0.33 in the Globex electronic session. April Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.21 to $120.32 a barrel.
Prices fluctuated between positive and negative territory in thin trade early in the day, but later tracked Asian equities higher as the market digested positive U.S. data on labor, manufacturing and housing. Initial jobless claims fell to a four-year low and a manufacturing index reached a four-month high, data released Thursday showed.
Positive developments in the Greek debt saga also improved sentiment. Greece is now considered a step closer to securing a second bailout package after German officials scrapped a plan to withhold part of the bailout money and the European Central Bank said it plans to swap its Greek debt holdings for new bonds once debt-restructuring negotiations are complete.
In addition, generally loose monetary policy helped fuel Friday's gains in crude-oil futures, Market Strategy Institute analyst Koichiro Kamei said.
"If you want to invest in commodities with the large amount of money on hand, it's usually gold or crude oil," he noted.
Continued tensions over Iran's nuclear program have also supported prices, analysts said.
However, a serious crude shortage is unlikely because Saudi Arabia would hike output to fill any void caused by a disruption of Iranian exports, while Libya has steadily increased production in recent months, Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting analyst Tomomichi Akuta said in a note.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for March--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 15 points to $3.0456 a gallon, while March heating oil traded at $3.2116, 19 points higher.
ICE gasoil for March changed hands at $1008.50 a metric ton, up $4.50 from Thursday's settlement.
-By Mari Iwata, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2798; mari.iwata@dowjones.com
