On April 21, 2009 American Petroleum Institute reported that inventories dropped 1.01 million barrels to 370.2 million last week, the first fall since March 6, 2009. Stock markets in the US and Asia gained after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said banks have enough capital.
“The API data showing a decrease will be supportive in the short term,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at Newedge in Tokyo. “A lot of people think this market will be higher by the end of this year. So if the market goes down they think this is the time to buy back in.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 2.1% to 850.08 on April 21, 2009. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.6% to 7,969.56.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.2% to 88.50 at 12:14 p.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has increased 25% from a five-year low on March 9, 2009.
Brent crude oil for June 2009 settlement increased as much as 39 cents, or 0.8%, to $50.21 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange. It was traded at $50 a barrel at 11:05 a.m. Singapore time. The contract dropped four cents on April 21, 2009 to $49.82 a barrel.
