Crude Oil Rises as Growth in China, Japan Buoys Demand Outlook

Crude oil rose above $67 a barrel in New York as manufacturing expanded in China and Japan, buoying hopes for a rebound in fuel demand.

Oil is nonetheless heading for its first quarterly decline this year amid swelling fuel inventories in the U.S. The Energy Department will probably report that supplies of crude and fuel increased last week, according to a Bloomberg survey. Chinese manufacturing rose for a sixth month in September and Japanese industrial output climbed for a sixth time in August.

“Emerging markets have definitely been driving the demand recovery,” said Thina Saltvedt, an analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo. “Industrial production has increased. We will see a gradual improvement in the economy, but prices have got ahead of the physical fundamentals”.....Read the entire article