Oil mixed in Asia as glow from Fed stimulus ebbs

AP FILE PHOTO

SINGAPORE — Oil prices were mixed in Asia trade Wednesday as euphoria sparked by the US Federal Reserve’s fresh stimulus plan began to ebb, analysts said.

Investors have now switched focus to demand worries owing to signs that the economy in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, is still struggling with anaemic growth and high unemployment.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October was 26 cents higher at $95.55 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for November delivery eased 15 cents to $111.88.

“Investor focus shifted from the likely economic benefit of additional stimulus to the economic problems that prompted the US Federal Reserve to launch its bond-buying programme,” analysts from Phillip Futures said in a report.

The Fed on Thursday unveiled a new, $40 billion per month bond-buying scheme it said would remain in place until it sees substantial improvement in the US jobs market.