financetom
Market
financetom
/
Market
/
Oil rises as US vaccine progress raises demand expectations
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Oil rises as US vaccine progress raises demand expectations
Mar 3, 2021 5:20 AM

Oil prices rose on Wednesday as signs of progress in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer, raised demand expectations. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 15 cents, or 0.25 percent, to USD 59.90 a barrel by 0757 GMT, recovering from three days of losses.

Share Market Live

NSE

Brent crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.38 percent, to USD 62.94 a barrel after four days of losses. ”Ongoing stimulus measures, as COVID-19 vaccinations speed up, have boosted sentiment,” ANZ analysts wrote in a note.

The US will have enough COVID-19 vaccine for every American adult by the end of May, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday after Merck & Co agreed to make rival Johnson & Johnson’s inoculation.

Futures were down earlier in the day amid uncertainty over how much supply the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, together called OPEC+, will restore to the market at its Thursday meeting and a big build in US crude inventories.

The OPEC+ meeting on Thursday comes at a time when producers are generally positive on the oil market outlook compared with a year ago when they slashed supply to boost prices. The market widely expects OPEC+ to ease production cuts, which were the deepest ever, by about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), with OPEC’s leader, Saudi Arabia, ending its voluntary production cut of 1 million bpd.

Still, an OPEC+ technical committee document reviewed by Reuters called ”for cautious optimism,” citing ”the underlying uncertainties in the physical markets and macro sentiment, including risks from COVID-19 mutations that are still on the rise”.

Reinforcing concerns of potential oversupply, the American Petroleum Institute industry group reported US crude stocks rose by 7.4 million barrels in the week to Feb. 26, in stark contrast to analysts’ estimates for a draw of 928,000 barrels.

However, that build occurred while US refining capacity was shut during the survey week because of cold weather in Texas. Refinery runs fell by 1.75 million bpd, the API data showed.

”The recent selloff may help reinforce Saudi’s cautious stance and delay any production increase,” said Stephen Innes, global market strategist at Axi.

”It’s probably something that could sway the OPEC+ increase more back toward the 500,000 bpd as opposed to the 1.5 million bpd,” he said.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Top Midday Gainers
Top Midday Gainers
May 26, 2025
02:14 PM EDT, 05/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- BioMarin Pharmaceutical ( BMRN ) said Friday that it agreed to acquire Inozyme Pharma ( INZY ) at $4 per share in cash to strengthen its enzyme therapies portfolio. Inozyme shares rallied 178% as trading volume catapulted to over 44 million from a daily average of about 817,000. Virgin Galactic ( SPCE )...
Sector Update: Health Care
Sector Update: Health Care
May 26, 2025
01:34 PM EDT, 05/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were higher Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index rising 1.5% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) adding 1.7%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 1.3%. In corporate news, Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) received approval from the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency...
Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise Friday Afternoon
Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise Friday Afternoon
May 26, 2025
01:45 PM EDT, 05/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks advanced in Friday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index up 0.6% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) ahead 0.7%. The Philadelphia Housing Index climbed 1.2%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) added 0.8%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) increased 0.4% to $104,148, and the yield for 10-year US...
Sector Update: Energy Stocks Decline Friday Afternoon
Sector Update: Energy Stocks Decline Friday Afternoon
May 26, 2025
01:41 PM EDT, 05/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.3% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) shedding 0.5%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index fell 0.4%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities index rose 1%. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 1.4% to $62.48 a...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved