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Bloomberg
Oil rises amid a weaker dollar and signs of improving demand in China and India.
Crude futures gained as much as 2.3% in New York as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index weakened as much as 0.3%, raising the appeal for commodities priced in the currency. Meanwhile, refinery activity in Asia is signaling a bright spot for demand recovery. One Chinese mega-refiner is snapping up barrels of Middle Eastern crude to feed trial runs of its expanded plant, while India’s refiners have cranked up processing to meet higher consumption during a festive period.
Signs of demand picking up in Asia is helping lift the overall outlook for oil consumption, which continues to struggle to return to normal due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories are expected to have declined by 2 million barrels last week, according to the median estimate in a survey of Bloomberg analysts ahead of government data released on Thursday. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will report its supply tally later Wednesday.