Crude-oil futures were in positive territory in Asian trade Thursday, buoyed by overnight gains in the U.S. oil benchmark and improved market sentiment. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $78.86 a barrel at 0449 GMT, up $0.18 in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.13 to $83.08 a barrel. Oil snapped a four-session losing streak yesterday with Nymex crude posting stronger gains than Brent in floor trade after data was released showing weekly U.S. oil stockpiles didn’t increase as much as expected. While the oil inventory data temporarily addressed some oversupply concerns, wider U.S. financial markets were also upbeat due to the conclusion of midterm elections, healthy corporate earnings and improving U.S. economic data. Some analysts noted signs of increased demand. “Weekly crude runs unexpectedly rose by 356,000 barrels […]