Oil Rebounds in Asia Lifted by Data Points

Investing.com - Oil futures rebounded modestly during Wednesday's Asian as traders digested some solid U.S. economic data points that went mostly ignored in the oil pits Tuesday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for April delivery rose 0.26% to USD92.88 per barrel in Asian trading Wednesday. Oil settled down 0.58% at USD92.57 a barrel on Tuesday in the U.S.

A day after a report showed Chinese oil imports rose in January, two data points showed U.S. demand could be improving as well. In U.S. the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 69.6 in February from a downwardly revised 58.4 in January. Economists expected a February reading of 61.

The Commerce Department said new home sales rose 15.6% last month to a 4-1/2-year high. In another report, The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed home prices increased by 6.8% in December.

The U.S. is the world's largest oil consumer, giving price action in the commodity an intimate correlation to data points there. With the consumer representing almost 70% of U.S. GDP and housing playing an integral role in job creation there, Tuesday's data points could be seen as pivotal to crude's near-term upside.

The Department of Energy will release data on the country's crude inventories on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Exxon Mobil and France's Total are reportedly among the companies interested in exploring for oil and natural gas in Sri Lanka. That country is about to hold its largest auctions of oil blocks in years.

Italy's Eni and BP are also believed to be interested in bidding. Exxon is the largest U.S. oil company. Sri Lanka currently does not produce any oil or natural gas.

Meanwhile, Brent for April delivery rose 0.13% to USD112.92 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.