In New York, oil exchanged almost a two-day high as U.S. home construction numbers and company gross imparted a progressing economic outlook which then caused speculations about increased fuel demand.

With reports from the Commerce Department that housing starts data higher than what the economists surveyed, outlook obtained 0.6 per cent while U.S. equities rose as earnings beat estimates yesterday.

Due to the assumption that the European Central Bank will increase interest rates prices also soared after the euro gained against the dollar.
Jonathan Barratt who is the managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney said, “We could expect more of an upbeat reporting season and that may feed through to people’s optimism. The U.S. dollar also came under pressure.”

Up by 12 cents, crude oil for June distribution was at $108.40 per barrel. This after an electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, at 11:54 a.m.

Yesterday, it added 59 cents amounting to $108.28, which is the highest since April 15. The contract for the month of May, which has expired yesterday, gained $1.03 settling at $108.15.

Brent crude for June settlement traded at $121.20 per barrel exhibiting a drop of 13 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Yesterday, it fell by 28 cents or 0.2 percent resulting to $121.33.

The European benchmark reached $13.05 per barrel yesterday. The front- month contract difference between London and New York swelled to $19.54 last February 21 with the spread averaged 76 cents in 2010.

Moreover, U.S. crude oil stocks mounted 667,000 barrels last week to 356.1 million, said the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute while Bloomberg News analysts conveyed that an Energy Department report today may show supplies increased 1.3 million barrels from 359.3 million.

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