Strongest weekly growth of crude oil since December

The WTI crude oil continues to grew against the tensions in Ukraine. Last week the price of the raw materials rose to nearly 5-week high, as the optimistic data from USA supported the trends. The crude oil futures with May delivery closed the Friday trading session at level of 103.40 USD per barrel. During late Asian trade on Monday the asset rose with 0.5% to 104.27 USD.

The New York traded contracts finished the previous week with growth of 2.59%, which is the biggest weekly growth since December 2013. The crude oil rose after the producer prices in USA reported a 0.5% increase in March 2014. The increase was the largest in the last nine months. The market participants had expected a modest expansion of 0.1%.

A separate report showed that the consumer confidence index rose to 82.6 points this month, which is the highest level since July. However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) decreased its forecast for the global oil demand this year. According to the organization, the sanctions for Russia after the annexation of the Crimea could weigh on demand.

The crude oil prices continue to be supported by the declining gasoline stocks in USA. Last week the Energy Information Administration said that the total gasoline inventories have declined by 5.18 million barrels in the week ended April 4th.

Meanwhile the futures of the Brent crude oil also closed trade in London without substantial changes at level of 107.40 USD per barrel. For the week, the crude oil rose with 1.34%.