Brent rallies above $40 a barrel, lifts global stocks on speculation of an agreement to freeze production
Oil prices resumed their recent climb on Wednesday, helping to lift world stock markets, while bond prices weakened ahead of this week’s European Central bank meeting.
Brent moved back above $40 a barrel on speculation that the world’s largest exporters could agree this month to freeze production and help erode the largest global build in crude in years.
Brent LCOc1 was up $1.06, or 2.7 percent, at $40.71 a barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 rose $1.24, or 3.4 percent, to $37.74.
U.S. stocks were moderately higher in morning trading, with gains in the S&P 500 led by a 1.9-percent jump in the S&P energy index .SPNY.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 70.51 points, or 0.42 percent, to 17,034.61, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 10.25 points, or 0.52 percent, to 1,989.51 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 18.50 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,667.33.
MSCI’s all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was up 0.2 percent, while in Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 gained 0.4 percent.
Oil prices are boosting stocks, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
“The market is probably going to have an upward bias for most of the session as investors await the ECB (decision) tomorrow.”
