Commodities: US energy futures gain after latest DoE inventory numbers

Rising energy futures in the States buoyed the entire complex on Thursday, despite a good bid in the US dollar.

According to the latest weekly data from the US Department of Energy, commercial crude oil stockpiles in the States jumped by 8.2m barrels to hit 445.0m barrels, but only because of a surge in net imports, in large part due to a sharp drop in exports.

Following the DoE figures, Capital Economics's Yasemin Engin told clients: "Oil prices barely reacted to this relatively bearish report, perhaps because the high API number had prepared traders for a large stock build.

"However, the market may also be factoring in the prospect of lower growth in US crude output this year. Indeed, the current price of US oil implies that the number of drilling rigs looks set to fall further."

Engin also noted the rise in US imports from Saudi, despite the Kingdom's assurances that it would reduce exports.

Against that backdrop, as of 2147 GMT, West Texas Intermediate for March was ahead by 1.14% to $53.22 a barrel on the NYMEX, while similarly-dated Brent was little changed on the day, changing hands at $61.16 a barrel.

The February natural gas contract on NYMEX on the other hand was up by 5.10% at $3.13/MMBtu.

In parallel, the Bloomberg commodity index was ahead by 0.17% to 80.21 even as the US dollar spot index added 0.43% to trade at 96.5330.

Base metals contracts on the LME meanwhile were down a tad across the board, with three-month copper slipping from $5,946 per metric tonne at the open to $5,922 at the session close.

April gold futures were also lower, dipping 0.33% to $1,286.0/oz. on COMEX.

So too, the main soft commodity contracts were bathed in red for the most part, except for ICE-traded March cocoa which was up by 0.49% at $2,256.0 per tonne.