Crude moves up

Prices get a boost from US manufacturing data Crude prices ended higher on Monday, 02 April 2012 at Nymex. Prices rose following better than expected manufacturing data at Wall Street on Monday. A relatively weak dollar and news of a halt in oil exports from Iraq's Kurdish region also pushed up prices. Light and sweet crude for May delivery rose $2.21 (2.2%) to $105.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. It managed to end the first quarter with gains of 4.2%. The quarterly advance follows a 25% increase in the fourth quarter of 2011, and gains of 8.2% for 2011. On the month of March, oil lost 3.8%, the worst result since September. In the currency market on Monday, the Dollar Index, which weighs the strength of dollar against basket of six other currencies fell by almost 0.16%. The U.S. dollar pared gains against the euro on Monday after a report showed strength in the U.S. manufacturing sector, in contrast to one showing the sector weakened in Europe. At Wall Street, the Institute for Supply Management's factory index rose to 53.4% last month from 52.4% in February. Market had expected the index would rise to 53.5%. Separately, the Commerce Department said construction spending fell 1.1% in February versus expectations of a 0.7% gain. Chinese data showed Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.1 (51.0 previous) while HSBC Manufacturing PMI fell to 48.3 (49.6 previous). European PMI data was also mixed as Eurozone Final Manufacturing PMI held at 47.7 and Britain's Manufacturing PMI surged to 52.1. Among other traded energy products on Monday, May gasoline added to gains, up 7 cents, or 2.2%, to settle at $3.38 a gallon. May heating oil was up 8 cents, or 2.5%, to end the day at $3.25 a gallon. Natural gas turned positive, following several days of settling at 10-year lows. The May contract gained 3 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.15 per million British thermal units. At the MCX, crude oil for April delivery closed higher by Rs 61 (1.1%) at Rs 5,335/barrel. Natural gas for April delivery closed lower by Rs 0.1 (0.09%) at Rs 110.1.