(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments)
By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on
Monday, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar but concerns about the
impact on demand from rising coronavirus cases in India and
other countries capped gains.
Brent crude LCOc1 was up 25 cents, or 0.4%, at $67.02 a
barrel by 12:57 p.m. ET (1657 GMT), after rising 6% last week.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. oil CLc1 was up 22 cents,
or 0.4%, at $63.35 a barrel, having gained 6.4% last week.
The U.S. dollar =USD traded at a six-week low versus major
peers on Monday, with Treasury yields hovering near their
weakest in five weeks. With oil priced in dollars, a softer greenback could spur
demand from holders of other currencies.
"If today's broad-based weakness in the U.S. dollar is
sustained, the energy complex should be able to maintain the
bulk of last week's gains," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of
Ritterbusch and Associates.
"The primary hazard to continued oil price strength is the
possible pre-emergence of Covid-19 case counts on a broad scale"
India reported a record rise in infections, which lifted
overall cases to just over 15 million, making the country the
second-worst affected after the United States, which has
reported more than 31 million infections.
Deaths from COVID-19 in India also rose by a record 1,619 to
nearly 180,000. The capital region of Delhi ordered a six-day lockdown,
joining around 13 other states across India that have decided to
impose restrictions, curfews or lockdowns in their cities.
"This new wave of measures, while so far likely to be less
stringent than what we saw in March 2020, when gasoline and
gasoil/diesel demand in the country fell by close to 60%, is
nevertheless set to weigh on transportation fuel consumption,"
consultancy JBC said.
Hong Kong will suspend flights from India, Pakistan and the
Philippines from April 20 due to imported coronavirus
infections, authorities said on Sunday. Lending some support, Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports fell
in February to their lowest in eight months, the Joint
Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) said on Monday, as the
world's biggest oil exporter voluntarily capped output to
support oil prices. JP Morgan now expects Brent prices to break the $70 mark by
May, compared with September in its previous forecast, the bank
said in a recent note. It still expects them to finish the year
at a similar level of about $74. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CHART: U.S. oil may fall toward $61.35 Brent oil still targets $65.22-$65.73 range
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