Crude oil prices gained on Monday amidst renewed assessment of tightness in supply and hopes of potentially higher demand. Saudi Arabia and Russia extending supply cuts to the end of the year continued to linger in market sentiment.
Recent economic data from China that revealed an uptick in industrial production as well as retail sales also helped support bullish sentiment for the black fluid.
Industrial production jumped 4.5 percent in August versus previous month's readings that stood at 3.7 percent. Markets had expected a spike to 3.9 percent. Likewise retail sales in August jumped to 4.6 percent, from previous reading of 2.5 percent and expectations of 3 percent.
The stimulus measures already announced by the Chinese govt as well as expectations of more to come abetted the positive demand outlook for crude oil.
The Dollar's mild weakness also supported crude oil prices. The Dollar Index, a measure of the Dollar's relative strength against a basket of 6 currencies slipped 0.09 percent overnight to 105.23.
Brent Oil Futures for November settlement which had finished previous day's trading at $93.93, ranged between $94.78 and $93.94 on Monday. It is currently trading at $94.40, having gained 0.50 percent from the previous close.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures for November settlement added 0.52 percent from the previous close of $90.02 to trade at $90.49. Prices ranged between a high of $90.90 and a low of $90.06.
