Oil futures made their first gain in four sessions in Tuesday’s trading and analyst attributed the increase to a rise in the U.S.manufacturing index in August.
The increase in the index lifted expectations for energy demand as West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery rose 15 cents or 0.4% to settle at $42.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
November Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled 30 cents, or 0.7%, higher at $45.58 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Prices are “aided by broader economic sentiment,” said Robbie Fraser, senior commodity analyst at Schneider Electric, in a Tuesday note to MarketWatch.
“Relatively bullish Chinese manufacturing data has reinforced the view that East Asia continues to push closer to pre-COVID demand levels—a core component of any long-term oil price recovery.”
In the U.S. Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 56% in August, up a fourth month in a row, from 54.2% in July.
Source: MarketWatch
