By Bryan Wong
Investing.com - Oil was up for a second day in a row Tuesday morning in Asia on signs that demand for fuel may be recovering along with renewed hope of a new stimulus package in the U.S.
WTI futures rose 0.79% to $42.27 by 12:07 AM ET (5:07 AM GMT) and Brent Oil Futures rose 0.51% to $45.22.
After signing an executive order over the weekend to kick-start $400 per week in unemployment benefits, U.S. President Donald Trump also tweeted that top congressional Democrats wanted to meet with him on COVID-19 economic relief.
On Sunday, Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco (SE:2222), the largest oil producer in the world, expressed optimism about a recovery in fuel demand in Asia as economies start to open back up.
“Crude oil gained amid signs of further stimulus measures... U.S. lawmakers continued negotiations on the massive virus relief economic package with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin saying there are areas where compromise is possible and a fair deal could be agreed upon. Sentiment was also boosted by comments from Saudi Aramco that demand is improving,” ANZ said in a note.
Indeed, China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.7% in July from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Monday, suggesting economic activity is picking up. In another sign of recovery, the producer price index (PPI) fell 2.4% from a year earlier, a smaller drop than the 3% fall recorded in June. Both numbers suggest economic activity is picking up in the second largest economy in the world.
Meanwhile, investors will be looking to the crude oil stock estimate from the American Petroleum Institute (API), due later in the day.