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Summary
Oil prices hovered below $86 a barrel Thursday amid signs global crude demand is growing, especially in Asia. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for May delivery was up 2 cents to $85.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $1.79 to settle at $85.84 on Wednesday. Crude investors were encouraged by signs of strong economic growth in China, which said Thursday its gross domestic product grew 11.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. Singapore's economy expanded 13 percent from a year ago. New US figures for industrial production and jobless claims were due later Thursday. An important economic outlook report for Germany predicted growth of 1.5 percent this year and 1.4 percent in 2011 for Europe's biggest economy. Crude leaped to above $87 last week after trading between $69 and $84 for the previous nine months. Oil traders were also cheered by news U.S. weekly crude inventories had their first declined since January, suggesting demand is recovering. In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil was down 0.53 cent at $2.2369 a gallon, and gasoline fell 1 cent to $2.3221 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 4.44 cents to $4.155 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude was up 70 cents at $86.85 on the ICE futures exchange.
