Oil prices extend gains on strong US data

28 August 2015 06:30 pm

AFP - Crude extended gains in Asia yesterday, following a 10 percent price surge in the previous session fuelled by strong US economic data.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery rose 52 cents to $43.08 while Brent crude for October gained 23 cents to $47.79 in late-morning trade.
Both WTI and Brent on Thursday closed up 10.3 percent, after hovering around six-and-a-half year lows all week on concerns about China’s faltering economy.
“We are seeing very strong volumes in Asian trading... there’s a bit of shock and disbelief at the strength of the US economic data,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets 
in Sydney, told AFP.

The rally comes after the Commerce Department reported the US economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in the second quarter, sharply above the initial appraisal of a 2.3 percent gain.
The more robust April-June growth mainly reflected higher investment, state and local government spending, and consumer spending than was reported in the initial estimate.
McCarthy said investors were also buoyed by strong data on US durable manufactured goods and crude inventories.