WSJ:Crude-Oil Futures Mixed in Asia; Investors Cautious
By CLEMENTINE WALLOP
Crude-oil futures were mixed in Asian trading Thursday, with investors exercising caution after a selloff in the previous session sparked by rising oil stocks and bearish U.S. jobs data.
Prices will likely remain rangebound ahead of U.S. nonfarm payroll data for March, due 1230 GMT Friday. Following a weaker-than-expected ADP labor report Wednesday, some investors are expecting a disappointing payrolls reading, which could be bearish for risk assets at the start of next week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $94.40 a barrel at 0614 GMT, down $0.05 in the Globex electronic session. May Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.29 to $107.40 a barrel due to tentative bargain hunting after Wednesday's 3.2% drop.
Prices struggled for upside traction, however, after data Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration showed surging stockpiles.
"Rising inventory tells me consumption is low," Jonathan Barratt, chief economist at Barratt's Bulletin in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Crude-oil stockpiles climbed 2.7 million barrels to 388.6 million barrels in the week ended March 29, compared with an average survey estimate of a rise of 1.5 million barrels, the data showed.
The stock increase follows nervousness around supply after the shutdown of Exxon Mobil's XOM -0.72% Pegasus pipeline in the U.S.
Plentiful supply of crude should damp speculative appetite for oil over the next few weeks, after bullish bets on prices helped boost crude-oil futures over the last two weeks, Manan Somani, director of Delhi-based Insignia Consultants, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Speculative long positions will now reduce, paving the way for a further reduction in crude-oil prices," he said.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for May—the benchmark gasoline contract—rose 44 points to $2.9184 a gallon, while May heating oil traded at $3.0061, 41 points higher.
ICE gasoil for April changed hands at $905.75 a metric ton, down $7.00 from Wednesday's settlement.
