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Crude-oil futures rose Wednesday as news the European Central Bank is close to outlining a more aggressive stimulus package to boost Europe’s economy stoked hopes of more demand for crude.
Sweet crude futures for delivery in March CLH5, -0.84% rose $1.31, or 2.8%, to settle at $47.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures ended Tuesday down 4.7%.
Brent crude for March delivery LCOH5, -0.41% rose $1.04, or 2.2%, to finish at $49.03 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange, snapping a two-day losing streak. Brent settled 1.7% lower on Tuesday.
March silver futures SIH5, -0.26% meanwhile, advanced 24 cents, or 1.3%, to $18.19 an ounce in electronic trading.
High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, -0.46% rose 2 cents to settle at $2.61 a pound.
Gold lost some of its earlier momentum to snap a seven-day winning streak Wednesday, unable to defend its first foray above $1,300 an ounce since August.
Gold for February delivery GCG5, -0.12% relinquished its earlier high to dip 50 cents to settle at $1,293.70 an ounce after settling at its highest price in five months Tuesday.
Here are the latest trading levels for Asia's major stock markets:
Tokyo (Nikkei Average NIK, -0.02% ) up 0.2%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.43% ) up 0.4%
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -0.20% ) down 0.2% (at break)
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.29% ) up 0.4%
Seoul (Kospi SEU, +0.15% ) up 0.2%
Mumbai (Sensex 1, +0.50% ) up 0.4%
Taipei (Taiex Y9999, +0.34% ) up 0.4%
Asian markets extended their rally this week, while the euro edged up marginally ahead of a much-anticipated European Central Bank policy meeting.
For a second straight session Japanese shares bucked the regional trend as a third day of gains on Wall Street was overshadowed by a pick-up in the yen against the dollar.
Hong Kong added 0.52 per cent, Sydney added 0.59 per cent, Seoul put on 0.34 percent and Shanghai put on 0.50 per cent, but Tokyo eased 0.10 per cent.
Eyes are firmly on the meeting later Thursday of the ECB, with expectations high that it will unveil a programme of asset-purchasing, or quantitative easing (QE) similar to that recently ended in the United States.
