Crude oil futures gain 2.24%, Brent tops $41 a barrel

Crude oil futures jumped to Rs 2,882 per barrel on June 5 as investors await a decision from OPEC+ on whether it will extend production cuts.

Oil prices resumed their uptrend after OPEC+ nations re-scheduled the meeting on June 6 to discuss the output cut extension. OPEC and other members are struggling to arrive at a common consensus to extend the output cut.

Easing of lockdown measures has improved the fuel demand outlook which has resulted in higher oil prices in recent weeks.

In the futures market, crude oil for June delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 2,896 and an intraday low of Rs 2,820 per barrel on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 1,361 and a high of Rs 4,415.

Crude oil futures for June delivery gained Rs 63, or 2.24 percent, to Rs 2,880 per barrel at 15:08 hours IST on a business turnover of 5,878 lots.

The same for July delivery was up Rs 68, or 2.38 percent, to Rs 2,924 per barrel on a business volume of 279 lots.

The value of June and July contracts traded so far is Rs 1,019.85 crore and Rs 7.76 crore, respectively.

Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities, expects crude oil to trade higher for the day with support at $36 and resistance at $38 and $40 levels. "June crude oil futures on the MCX has support at Rs 2,810 and resistance at Rs 2,930-2980."

West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.87 percent at $38.11 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark, was up 2.58 percent to $41.02 per barrel.