WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday despite persisting concerns about the outlook for demand. Oil prices moved up partly due to short-covering after recent sharp losses.
OPEC said in a recent report that global oil demand will likely rise by 1.82 million barrels per day, down from an earlier estimate of 1.93 million barrels per day, due largely to a weak Chinese economy notwithstanding an increase in fiscal spending.
A firm dollar weighed as well on oil prices. The dollar, which was struggling a bit during the Asian and European sessions today, climbed higher in the New York session after data from the Labor Department showed the consumer price index crept up by 0.2% in October.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $0.31 or about 0.46% at $68.43 a barrel.
Brent crude futures settled at $72.28 a barrel, gaining $0.39 or about 0.54%.
Markets now eye weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), as well as The International Energy Agency's oil demand forecast.
Reports from API and EIA are delayed by a day due to the Veterans Day holiday on Monday.
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