Crude Oil Futures Gain On China Manufacturing Data

Crude oil prices advanced in Asia Monday as sentiment was buoyed after reports indicated a pick-up in China's manufacturing activity in November.

Light sweet crude for January delivery gained 0.16 percent or 14 cents to $89.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours. Brent crude oil futures for the January delivery rose 0.29 percent or 32 cents to $111.55 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.

Encouraging Chinese manufacturing reports eased concerns over the growth slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. A private sector survey released Monday showed that that China’s manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in more than a year in November.

The final reading of HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a measure of the nation-wide manufacturing, climbed to 50.5 in November, entering an expansionary territory of above 50 for the first time in 13 months, from October’s reading of 49.5.

Meanwhile, official data released Saturday showed that Chinese manufacturing activity expanded for the second straight month in November. The data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing Saturday showed that the official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) surged to a seven-month high of 50.6 in November from 50.2 in October, signaling faster growth in the world's second largest oil consumer.

“China's data has been broadly supportive of risk markets and entirely consistent with recent numbers suggesting overall improvement in growth. The market will continue to build a significant risk premium on the probability of disruption to oil supplies from the Middle East,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst, CMC Markets in Sydney, told Reuters.

On Friday, light sweet crude for the January delivery gained 1 percent or 84 cents and settled at $88.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude for the January delivery gained 34 cents and settled at $111.10 a barrel.