Oil hovers below $44 as US company news improves

Oil prices hovered below $44 a barrel today in Asia after surging yesterday as positive news from US companies brightened the outlook for crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery was flat at $43.55 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $44.23. The contract rose overnight $2.71 to settle at $43.55.

Investor spirits were buoyed yesterday by better-than- expected corporate results from the US.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc, which owns bank National City Corp, and Bank of New York Mellon Corp both reported profits a day after financial stocks plunged on fears that massive writedowns could spread throughout the industry.

 "Oil is going to depend on how the economic news comes out, particularly in America," said Gerard Rigby, an energy analyst with Fuel First Consulting in Sydney.

Oil has fallen 70 per cent since peaking at $147.27 a barrel in July, but is up from a five-year low of $33.20 in December.

Investors will be looking to the weekly oil inventories report to be released today by the US Energy Department's Energy Information Administration for insight into US demand. The report is expected to show that oil stocks rose 1.9 barrels last week, according to the average of estimates in a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Crude inventories have risen 7.9 million barrels during the last two weeks.