Oil Climbs, Awaiting Year’s Final US Data Release By Investing.com – Investing.com

Oil Climbs, Awaiting Year’s Final US Data Release By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - Crude prices rose Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, as traders awaited the final scheduled release of U.S. oil inventory data for the year that could help decide the direction in a market affected by seasonally thin volume.

, the benchmark for U.S. crude, settled up 41 cents, or 0.5%, at $75.98 per barrel, after rising 2.4% Monday on optimism about travel in 2022 and the positive impact that could have on gasoline, diesel and jet fuel use, despite the concerns governments across the world have about emerging Covid variants.

London-traded , the global benchmark for oil, finished the session up 34 cents, or 0.4%, at $78.94. Brent rose 3.2% on Monday.

“Markets are  stronger … with the continuation chart for Crude now at the 200d MA,” Scott Shelton, ICAP’s energy futures broker in  Durham, North Carolina, said, referring to WTI’s 200-day moving average.

“Indications are that CTAs have been buying for most of yesterday and today as they are flipping from short to long,” Shelton added. 

CTAs, or Commodity Trading Advisors, a term commonly used for hedge funds, have seen volatile returns lately as oil prices attempt to find stable