Crude prices inched higher in Asia today with markets taking a breather after volatile trade a day ago as bearish US manufacturing data quashed initial euphoria over a debt deal, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, gained 40 cents to USD 95.29 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September rose 16 cents to USD 116.97.
Crude markets were resting after volatile trade today, said Serene Lim, oil and gas analyst for ANZ bank in Singapore. "I think it's trading very sideways today after very choppy trading last night... markets are taking a pause," she told AFP.
Crude prices had leaped in early yesterday trade following US President Barack Obama's announcement of an 11th-hour deal to avert a potentially devastating debt default in the world's largest oil consumer.
But they went back into the red after data showed the US manufacturing sector contracting in July, highlighting increased and deep-seated concerns about Washington's economy, analysts said.
The Republican-led House voted late yesterday to approve the Obama-backed package to raise the limit on US borrowing and enact at least USD 2.1 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade.
The Democratic-led Senate was expected to approve the emergency measure in a noon (2130 IST) vote today-- scarcely 12 hours before a midnight deadline by which the world's richest nation would run out of cash to pay its bills.
