Oil Inches Up Slightly In Asia

Oil....

Crude oil futures inched up in the Asia electronic session today after posting a loss of nearly 10% so far this month and 4% on the week. NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures for June delivery, the upcoming front-month contract rose 50 cents to $88.75 a barrel. The May oil contract finished last week with a loss of 3.6%, marking the third consecutive week of declines for the commodity. Last week, oil prices dropped below $86.50 a barrel to their lowest settlement price since mid-December over demand concerns. The May crude futures contract is due to expire after the close of Monday’s session on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Worries over the global economy intensified earlier in the week after the International Monetary Fund cut its 2013 forecast for global growth to 3.3%, down from its January projection of 3.5%. The growth projection for China was trimmed to 8% from 8.2%, while the growth outlook for the U.S. was lowered to 1.9% from 2%. The Group of 20 meeting Friday was also a focal point for the energy markets, which continued to reel from weak prospects for demand. The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governments said economic policy makers must take more action to spur global growth. Economic policy makers around the world must take more action to help spur demand, the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a joint statement released Friday. MCX May crude oil futures are trading up nearly Rs 40 at Rs 4818 per barrel. The counter should continue to find a good support near Rs 4600 levels and resistance near Rs 5000-5100 levels in the near term. In the week ahead, investors will be awaiting Friday’s U.S. data on first quarter growth amid lingering concerns that the U.S. economic recovery is losing momentum. Powered by Commodity Insights