Crude oil futures dipped in mid-morning trade in Asia Dec. 31 as investors booked year-end profits after a multi-day rally that pushed prices to highs not seen in five weeks.
At 10:42 am Singapore time (0242 GMT), the ICE March Brent futures contract was down 89 cents/b (1.12%) from the previous close at $78.64/b, while the NYMEX February light sweet crude contract was down 85 cents/b (1.1%) at $76.14/b. Oil prices have been firm for two weeks as easing concerns over the severity of the omicron variant of the coronavirus saw investors returning to take long positions. Most recent data from the Intercontinental Exchange showed net longs in the ICE Brent contract by money managers rising by 138 lots to 154,556 in the week ended Dec. 21 after falling for the previous 10 weeks. The daily candlestick […]