West Texas Intermediate crude held around $104 a barrel after a Chinese manufacturing gauge rose and data showed more Americans than projected filed applications for unemployment benefits last week. Brent advanced.
WTI for July delivery rose 5 cents to $104.12 a barrel at 9:20 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month futures climbed $1.74 to $104.07 yesterday, the highest close since April 21. The volume of all contracts traded was about 17 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day. Prices have gained 5.8 percent this year.
Brent for July settlement increased 35 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $110.90 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 16 percent above the 100-day average. The futures settled at $110.55 yesterday, the highest closing price since March 3. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $6.78 to WTI.
To contact the reporter on this story: Moming Zhou in New York at mzhou29@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net Margot Habiby
