Crude mixed in Asia after Wall Street gains

SINGAPORE – Oil prices were mixed but well-supported in Asian trade Wednesday thanks to buoyant gains on Wall Street and a sharper than expected fall in US crude inventories, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, fell four cents to $88.30 per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for December delivery was up 13 cents to $111.28.

The market was supported “as Wall Street rose on bank earnings that overshadowed slower Chinese growth and Europe’s debt troubles,” Phillip Futures said in a report.

US financial giants Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup all saw shares surge between five and 10 percent late Tuesday after reporting positive earnings, pushing up key US bourses.

Wall Street’s cheer was helped by British newspaper The Guardian reporting that the leaders of France and Germany, the eurozone’s biggest economies, have agreed to boost the region’s rescue fund to two trillion euros ($2.7 trillion) from 440 billion euros.

Meanwhile, forecasts of a sharper than expected decline in US crude stockpiles by the American Petroleum Institute in a report released late Tuesday was also cheering crude markets, Phillip Futures said in its report.

“Crude stocks fell 3.1 million barrels. This was contrary to the 1.8 million barrels increase anticipated by analysts,” the report said.