By Claudia Assis and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures gained Thursday, starting March on a mildly positive note, cheering news that manufacturing in China expanded.
Crude-oil futures for April delivery CLJ2 +0.45% rose 62 cents, or 0.6%, to $107.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Rival Chinese manufacturing surveys released Thursday indicated mild improvement in February, though underlying data showed surging input prices and deteriorating new orders, suggesting further weakening in the nation’s economy. Read more on China manufacturing.
Oil ended higher Wednesday, having spent most of the session seesawing between small gains and losses .
Investors were disappointed U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke provided no hint about an additional bond purchasing program.
“If investors believe that the Fed is unwilling to provide further liquidity, then this could be a signal that other central banks will also hold back from providing additional stimulus over the coming months,” David Morrison, senior market strategist at GFT Markets, wrote in a note to clients.
“If so, then oil could retreat further on the expectation of reduced demand, although continuing geopolitical tensions should still offer some support,” he said.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in testimony to Washington lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. central bank is closely watching macroeconomic data after recent improvement in the unemployment rate. His comments damped expectations for a third round of asset purchases. Read more about Bernanke’s testimony.
A higher-than-expected increase in U.S. inventories also added some pressure to oil prices on Wednesday.
Among other energy products, April futures for gasoline RBJ2 +0.97% lately traded up 1 cent at $3.27 a gallon, while the April contract for heating oil HOJ2 -0.18% was flat at $3.20 a gallon.
Natural-gas futures added to losses after a weekly U.S. government inventories report showed a smaller-than-expected decline in inventories.
Natural gas for April delivery NGJ12 -5.66% declined 13 cents, or 4.8%, at $2.58 per million British thermal units.
It had traded at $2.63 per Btu moments before the data.
The Energy Information Administration reported a decline in natural gas supplies by 82 billion cubic feet in the week ended Feb. 24. Analysts polled by Platts had expected a decrease between 90 bcf and 94 bcf for the week.
