Oil prices rise in Asian trade

Oil prices were up in Asian trade today after a massive rally in US stocks stoked hopes of an early rebound for the global economy, analysts said.  

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, rose 15 cents to $61.69 a barrel.  

Brent North Sea crude for August delivery advanced six cents to $63.15. The contract will expire later Thursday.  

Analysts added oil prices were lifted by overnight gains on Wall Street, with the US Federal Reserve's improved outlook for the US economy giving an additional boost.  

"It's the surge in technological and financial stocks on Wall Street that's spilling into the Asian equity markets," said Victor Shum, senior principal of energy consultants Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.  

 

This pulled oil prices higher, he added.  

"Oil market sentiment was buoyed by gains on US equity markets," the Commonwealth Bank of Australia also said in a report.

Wall Street closed strongly on Wednesday, spurred on by surprisingly good results from tech giant Intel and an improved outlook by the Federal Reserve for the world's biggest economy.  

The US central bank raised its outlook for 2009 and 2010, projecting a rebound in the second half of 2009 that would leave the economic contraction for the year at between 1.0 and 1.5 per cent.