WSJ:Crude Rises; US Elections, China Congress in Focus
Crude-oil futures rose in Asian trade Monday, though investors were cautious, balancing bearish and bullish macroeconomic news against each other.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $85.09 a barrel at 0735 GMT, up $0.23 in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.23 to $105.91 a barrel.
The European Union purchasing managers' index fell to 45.4 in October from 46.1 in September, according to data from Markit Friday. Although this was a slight upward revision from the 45.3 reading initially estimated, it still marked the 15th straight month of manufacturing contraction for the EU.
Meanwhile, nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. rose by 171,000 last month, the Labor Department reported, topping the 125,000 median forecast of economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
"The U.S. jobs data was good," a Singapore-based trader said, noting that this tempered concerns over Europe's weak growth and lent support to crude prices.
After superstorm Sandy, oil markets will continue to look to macroeconomic indicators for guidance, a Tokyo-based trader said, noting that the U.S. elections Tuesday and China's Party Congress, which kicks off Thursday, will likely affect foreign exchange markets and could impact crude prices.
He tipped resistance for the European benchmark at $108 a barrel today, close to the 100-day moving average.
In the near term, prices will likely be impacted by some uncertainty surrounding the U.S. election and fiscal cliff as well as any news surrounding potential Chinese stimulus, National Australia Bank said in a research note Friday.
"On balance though, we expect prices [for Brent crude] to lift from current levels in order to meet our forecast of $111 a barrel through the December quarter on average," it said, noting that persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East will support prices.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for December--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 56 points to $2.5792 a gallon, while December heating oil traded at $2.9560, 86 points higher.
ICE gasoil for November changed hands at $921.75 a metric ton, down $3.25 from Friday's settlement.
Write to Surabhi Sahu at surabhi.sahu@dowjones.com
