Oil prices rose today after getting a boost from an update on China’s purchasing managers index (PMI). The national Bureau of Statistics said that the index rose from 52.2 in February to 53.4 in March, showing that manufacturing activity in the country is on the rise, which is likely to translate into higher oil demand.
China is the world’s second largest energy consumer behind the US.
In addition to that, today’s non-farm payrolls data from the US Department of Labor turned out to be better than expected. The department said that payrolls increased by 216,000, while the unemployment rate declined from 8.9 percent to 8.8 percent in March, signalling that the recovery in the job market is gaining speed.
US light, sweet crude for May delivery, currently the most active contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), climbed to US$106.87/barrel, while June crude reached US$107.41/barrel.
May Brent crude advanced to US$117.33/barrel on the ICE Exchange.
BP (LON:BP) was in the lead with a 2% gain. Fellow supermajor Shell (LON:RDSB) held steady.
BG Group (LON:BG) and Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) rose marginally.
Engineering firm Petrofac (LON:PFC) added 1%.
Salamander Energy (LON:SMDR) led the midcaps, climbing 2.1%. Melrose Resources (LON:MRS) added 1.7%, as did service company Wood Group (LON:WG). Soco International (LON:SIA) rose 1%.
Heritage Oil (LON:HOIL) moved in the opposite direction, dropping 2.2%. JKX Oil & Gas (LON:JKX) lost 1%.
Small caps weren’t very active today.