Oil prices crept higher on Wednesday, heading for their fifth-straight quarterly gain, as investors took comfort from encouraging US economic reports and looked ahead to key inventory data.
Home prices in 20 American cities unexpectedly rose in January, data showed on Tuesday, providing further evidence that the housing market was stabilising. Consumer confidence figures were also better than expected.
The market was eyeing the latest inventory report from the Energy Department, due out later on Wednesday, after the American Petroleum Institute reported that fuel stockpiles had dropped last week.
Investors were also bracing themselves for Friday’s monthly US jobs report, which is expected to show that the country’s economy added jobs this month.
Nymex April West Texas Intermediate rose 54 cents to $82.91 and has gained almost 5 per cent over the past three months.
Meanwhile, its lighter equivalent, ICE May Brent, was up 49 cents at $81.77 a barrel.
Among the base metals, copper retreated after hitting a 19-month high on Tuesday. The red metal, which is primarily mined in Chile, lost 0.1 per cent to $7,825 a tonne.
However, all the other base metals were higher. Nickel built on the 21-month high it hit on Tuesday, adding 1.8 per cent to $22,735, and it is now on track to have outperformed the rest of the base metals over the past quarter.
Supply shortages and strong demand from stainless steelmakers have boosted the price of the silvery-white metal.
The weaker dollar also lent support to gold on Wednesday, lifting the precious metal 0.4 per cent to $1,108 a troy ounce.
While bullion has dropped 9 per cent since its peak in December 2009, the metal is still up 20 per cent during the past two years as investors have sought a haven for their cash at times of high market volatility.
Among soft commodities, sugar prices slipped as concerns grew over Brazil’s early start to the cane harvest. Limited supply from the world’s top producer, as a result of poor weather and the tight credit conditions faced by mills, had previously buoyed prices.
ICE May raw sugar lost 1.1 per cent to 17.69 cents a pound while Liffe May white sugar fell 0.6 per cent to $515.80 a tonne.
