Oil spikes 1% in holiday-thinned session over China stimulus outlook; Brent hits $74 in rangebound trade
Live MintInternational crude oil prices rose almost one per cent on Thursday, December 26, in a holiday-thinned trading session driven by hopes for additional fiscal policy stimulus in China, the world's biggest oil importer, and supported by an industry report showing a decline in US crude inventories. Crude oil trades higher in holiday-thinned session -According to news agency Reuters, Chinese authorities have agreed to issue three trillion yuan worth of special treasury bonds next year. -Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities, said expectations of increasing fossil fuel production and demand after US President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month are also bolstering crude oil prices. According to Kaynat Chainwala, AVP-Commodity Research, Kotak Securities, oil prices held steady above $70 per barrel on Wednesday, driven by China's fiscal stimulus and expectations of a drop in US crude inventories after the API reported a draw of 3.2 million barrels.