Crude oil futures were rangebound during mid-morning Asian trade April 16, as bullish sentiment, bolstered by signs of increasing US and Chinese economic activity, was tempered by the dire coronavirus situation in key economies around the world. At 11:59 am Singapore time (0359 GMT), the ICE Brent June contract was 4 cents/b (0.06%) higher than the April 15 settle at $66.98/b, while the May NYMEX light sweet crude contract was 2 cents/b (0.03%) lower at $63.44/b. Propping up market sentiment are reports that the US economic recovery is well underway, as evidenced by a 9.8% improvement in March retail sales, the largest increase since May 2020, according to data from the Department of Commerce. Additionally, data by the Department of Labor showed that new applications for US unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally […]