All economic signs pointed upward Wednesday, with oil prices jumping more than 30%, following a report that showed a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. inventories, as well as on the hope that economies will reopen sooner than expected.
West Texas Intermediate for June delivery surged 32.6%, or $4.03, to trade at $16.39 U.S. per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude traded 15.6% higher at $23.65 U.S..
Optimism that economies will be able to re-open ahead of schedule rose after Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) said early results of its coronavirus drug trial showed that at least 50% of patients treated with a five-day dosage of antiviral drug remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks.
Petroleum prices also got a boost on a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. inventories. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude stockpiles rose by nine million barrels for the week ending April 24, or lower than the 11.7-million-barrel build analysts had been expecting.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute released Tuesday night showed that U.S. crude inventories jumped by 10 million barrels in the week to April 24, bringing the total to 510 million barrels. That was lower than analysts’ expectations of a build of 10.6 million barrels.
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