By Mahmoud Gamal
UAE – Mubasher: Oil prices reversed their losing run to open higher on Asian markets Thursday, amid a decline in the U.S. stockpile against a fall in global stock exchanges and volatility in the dollar.
Brent oil rose by 0.82% to $40.44 per barrel, after it lost around 10% or $4 since OPEC meeting last Friday.
The U.S. crude also rose by 0.82% to $37.42 per barrel.
Today’s rise in oil is spurred by the fall in the U.S. weekly inventories and attraction by some speculators in the crude market, said Ahmed Hassan Karam, economist and analyst.
U.S. data showed a drop in crude inventories last week to 3.6 million barrel, missing previous estimates.
The U.S. dollar fell against major currencies on Wednesday, as it fell by 0.13% to reach 1.1004 against the euro.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected, during its monetary policy meeting on 15-16 December, to raise interest rate for the first time in ten years.
As for global stocks, Japan’s Nikkei was off 1.3% on Wednesday to close at 19,049.66 points, while the broader index Topix lost 0.9% to 1,541.58 points.
U.S. stocks also ended lower yesterday as Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted lower by 0.43% to 17,492.97 points. S&P 500 fell by 0.77% to 2,047.66 points and NASDAQ Composite Index shed 1.48% to 5,022.87 points.
Translated by Sayed Abdel Rahman
