Oil breaks above $60\, but doubts about growth curb gains

Oil breaks above $60, but doubts about growth curb gains

Reuters  |  NEW YORK 

By Stephanie Kelly

Brent crude futures rose $1.86 to $60.66 a barrel, a 3.2 percent gain, by 11:26 a.m. EST (1626 GMT). U.S. Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.44 to $51.86 a barrel, a 2.9 percent gain.

Prices on Friday hit their lowest since October 2017 amid intensifying fears of a supply glut. Brent sank to $58.41 a barrel, while WTI fell to $50.15 a barrel.

"We're rebounding," said Phil Flynn, an at in "A lot of people realized that the black and blue Friday was probably overdone and cooler heads are prevailing here a little bit."

Supporting prices, U.S. stock markets broadly rallied as Cyber Monday, the largest of the year, began. Crude futures at times track with the equities market.

Prices found some support as crude stockpiles at the U.S. hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, rose just 126 barrels from Tuesday to Friday, traders said, citing a report from market intelligence firm

However, demand concerns and record output from limited Monday's rebound.

Saudi production hit 11.1-11.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, an all-time high, an industry source said on Monday.

A rising dollar that has undercut demand in key emerging market economies, higher borrowing costs and the threat to global growth from the trade dispute between the and have pushed investors out of assets more closely aligned with the global economy, such as equities or oil.

In November alone, hedge funds have pulled more than $12 billion out of the oil market, based on a record drop in net long holdings of Brent and U.S. crude futures and options against the for the month.

Even the prospect of a near-certain cut in output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has not been enough to stem the slide.

OPEC meets in on Dec. 6, amid expectations that will push for a production cut of up to 1.4 million bpd by the club and its allies.

said on Monday the meeting this week could be a catalyst for a rebound in commodities prices, possibly prompting a thaw in U.S.-trade tensions and offering greater clarity on a potential OPEC

Goldman believes OPEC and other nations will come to an agreement, leading to a recovery in Brent prices.

"While we didn't think that Brent prices were justified at $86 per barrel, neither do we believe that they are at $59/bbl with our 2019 Brent forecast at $70/bbl," Goldman said.

(Additional reporting by in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by and Chizu Nomiyama)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, November 26 2018. 22:11 IST