Oil up in Asia following rise in US equities

Singapore, June 10: Oil rose in Asian trade today (June 10), boosted by gains on Wall Street that snapped a lengthy losing streak, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, gained eight cents to USD 102.01 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery rose 33 cents to USD 119.90.

"Crude oil markets is likely to be boosted by the US equity market, which recovered after six sessions of consecutive losses," Ker Chung Yang, a commodity analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, told AFP.

US stocks closed firmer yesterday, lifted by an unexpected narrowing of the US trade deficit in April.

Official data yesterday showed that the US trade deficit shrank to USD 43.7 billion from USD 46.8 billion in March on the back of record exports and a drop in imports as the economy struggles with a weak recovery.

Crude prices were also lifted by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries'' (OPEC) decision on Wednesday to keep production levels steady at 24.84 million barrels per day, where it has stood since January 2009.

AFP