Crude Oil Ends A Tad Higher On Fed Stand

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a two-day loss to end a tad higher on Wednesday, after Janet Yellen said the Fed will continue to keep its benchmark interest rates at very low levels for a considerable period of time. The marginal rise comes after an official Energy Information Administration report showed crude oil stockpiles in the U.S. to have increased four times more than expected last week.

Crude oil also found support over developments in Ukraine with tensions mounting as government forces moved in to evict pro-Russian activists occupying governmental buildings.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration data earlier Wednesday showed U.S. crude oil inventories to have surged by 10.0 million barrels in the week ended April 11, while analysts expected an increase of 2.4 million barrels. However, gasoline stocks dropped by 0.2 million barrels last week, with analysts anticipating a decline of 1.7 million barrels. Inventories of distillate, including heating fuel, dropped by 1.3 million barrels, even as analysts predicted a decline of 0.2 million barrels.

China's gross domestic product growth for the first quarter slipped to 7.4 percent, its slowest level in 18 months. Nonetheless, prices also found support that the Chinese economy grew slightly more than expected in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday the Federal Reserve will keep its benchmark interest rates at exceptionally low levels for a considerable time. She insisted the Fed will remain highly accommodative until employment and inflation reach healthier levels.

Yellen acknowledged that economic growth slowed over the winter, but suggested that a significant part of the weakness was due to unusually cold winter weather.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for May delivery, the most actively traded contract, inched up $0.01 to close at $103.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.

Crude prices for May delivery scaled a high of $104.99 a barrel intraday and a low of $103.12.

On Tuesday, crude oil futures ended modestly lower, amid concerns over a fall in demand and on news that Libya would soon start shipments of crude.

Late Tuesday, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. oil inventories to have risen by 7.6 million barrels last week.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 79.80 on Wednesday, up from its previous close of 79.79 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 79.87 intraday and a low of 79.65.

The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.3823 on Wednesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3815 late Tuesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3850 intraday and a low of $1.3804.

In economic news from the U.S., industrial production rose more than expected in March, the Federal Reserve revealed in a report on Wednesday, with a notable upward revision to the pace of production growth in the previous month. Industrial production in the U.S. increased 0.7 percent in March after surging up by an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in February. Economists expected production to rise by about 0.5 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Housing starts in the U.S. showed a notable increase in March, a report from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday, although still well below economist estimates. Housing starts climbed 2.8 percent to an annual rate of 946,000 in March from the revised February estimate of 920,000. Economists expected housing starts to surge up to an annual rate of 970,000 from the 907,000 originally reported for the previous month.

From Europe, U.K.'s unemployment rate fell below the 7 percent threshold, with the jobless rate at 6.9 percent of the labor force in three months to February, the lowest since February 2009, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. This was below the 7.1 percent logged in the September to November period, and the 7.9 percent posted in the three months to February 2013. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among the 16-24 age group was 19.1 percent.