WTI crude rose to a two-month high amid forecasts for the first two consecutive decreases in U.S. oil reserves. According to a Bloomberg News survey before the Energy Information Associations report tomorrow, stockpiles decreased by 800 000 barrels last week and refineries increased their operating rates for a fourth week in a row.
Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney predicts WTI might be sold at around $97.20 a barrel. He said: “As we start to move into the driving season, traders are going to want to see a pick-up in gasoline use and refinery throughput. There’s not a lot of news about that would influence people’s views on the fundamentals for either demand or supply.” The U.S. nations peak driving period starts at May 27 – the U.S. Memorial Day holiday.
Crude rose yesterday amid news of a possible Middle East region destabilization, which accounts for 33% of the global oil output. Troops loyal to Syria president, Bashar Al-Assad, began an offensive against rebels and have retaken parts of the strategic city Al-Qusair.
News about the Japanese economy also influenced oil pricing. Oil prices rose in U.S. trading after Akira Amari, Japans Minister of Economy, stated that a further weakening of the yen would harm the economy, which increased the currencys demand and weakened the dollar. Amari said he hopes the yens exchange rate against other major currencies will reach a level, which corresponds to the countrys state of economic development. Bank of Japan has is conducting a two-day meeting to discuss its monetary policy. The Asian nation introduced massive monetary easing measures to counter the deflation process, which has been troubling the worlds third biggest economy for some time now. This caused the yen to plunge against the dollar.
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
