Commodities: Crude gets a shove higher as US stores fall more than expected

Crude-oil futures got a shove higher on Thursday afternoon as another set of data showed a decline in US stores of the black liquid last week.

At 16:06 BST, Nymex-priced West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.48% to $48.55 a barrel. Intercontinental Exchange-traded Brent rose 0.22% to $50.87 a barrel.

Crude has been volatile since Opec last week extended its output pledge into 2018, but some in the market doubt its sufficiency given the scale of the now chronic global glut.

Last night, American Petroleum Institute figures showed a bigger than forecast drop in US stores last week.

This afternoon Energy Information Administration data showed a 6.4m barrels decline in stores, also more than expected.

Craig Erlam at Oanda had predicted that a well-received EIA number could offer "further reprieve" for oil, which has been sold heavily since the Opec pledge.

The EIA number extended the number of weekly drawdowns to eight. "Perhaps (it) convinces people that the (output) cut is working more than markets would suggest," pondered Erlam.

Lukman Otunuga at FXTM said the API data last night had slightly eased oversupply concerns.

"Sentiment (overall) remains firmly bearish towards oil and sellers are likely to exploit the fact that Opec's oil output in May rose despite constant talks of balancing the markets," he said.

"It remains a question of how US Shale reacts and benefits from Opec's actions."

Meanwhile, at 15:22 BST, on Comex, gold slipped 0.61% to $1267.6 an ounce. Silver fell 1.41% to $17.16 an ounce, and copper rose 0.08% to 258.2 cents a pound.

"Gold continues to narrow at $1266-67 having retreated from a 1-month high of $1270.5," observed Henry Croft at Accendo Markets.

Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group added that gold and silver prices fell on Thursday after the Chain Caixin manufacturing PMI for May fell below the 50 mark designating contraction.

"Silver is looking toppy after having only recovered half of what was lost when the price fell almost every day for a month in late April and early May," he said.

"The data was particularly disappointing after government data had improved slightly the day prior. It’s evidence that China’s state-owned enterprises, typically the biggest recipients of government stimulus are doing the heavy lifting while private industry fails to keep up."

On London Metals Exchange, three-month industrial metals were mixed. Aluminum rose 0.1%, copper gained 0.46%, zinc fell 0.95% and tin lost 0.54%.