Crude oil futures climbed in mid-morning Asian trade April 27, extending overnight gains, as China announced a fresh wave of financial stimulus, which helped delay demand concerns, while renewed fears over supply disruptions resurfaced as Russia is expected to halt gas to Poland.

At 11:20 am Singapore time (0320 GMT), the ICE June Brent futures contract was up $1.04/b (0.99%) from the previous close at $106.03/b, while the NYMEX June light sweet crude contract rose 62 cents/b (0.61%) to $102.32/b. “Oil traders are putting Beijing lockdown fears in the rearview mirror and instead are focusing on more stimulus coming from China,” Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group, said. According to media reports, the People’s Bank of China announced late April 26 that it would “step up the prudent monetary policy’s support to the real economy, […]