Futures Pros: Crude oil rebounds from 9-day low on bargain buying, Libya

• Futures Pros – Crude oil futures were up for the first time in three days on Wednesday, rebounding from a nine-day low amid bargain buying and as markets refocused on violence in Libya.
  On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at USD106.56 a barrel during European morning trade, gaining 0.5%.
  Earlier in the day, Libya’s Interim Transitional National Council, the rebel-led government, called for the United Nations to declare Misrata an “internationally protected zone” and urged the use of “all necessary measures”, after pro-Gaddafi forces accelerated attacks in recent days.
  Elsewhere, Kuwait’s state-run oil firm Kuwait Petroleum Company had temporarily halted oil exports due to adverse weather conditions resulting from sandstorms.
  OPEC member Kuwait is the world’s seventh largest oil exporter and has the capability to produce nearly 2.4 million barrels per day.
  Crude oil prices dropped to USD105.46 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest since March 31, after the International Energy Agency warned that higher prices were likely to lead to a slowdown in global demand, while Goldman Sachs advised investors to “lock-in trading profits before the commodity market reverses”.
  Crude oil futures have dropped nearly 5.95% since Monday. The sharp price decline triggered some bargain buying from traders reluctant to bet that prices would fall further as violence continued in Libya.
  Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Department was to release its closely-watched crude oil inventories report for the week ended April 8 later in the day. The data was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles increased by 1 million barrels, after rising by 2 million barrels in the preceding week.
  Industry data released by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed that U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.19 million barrels last week.
  Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery climbed 0.41% to trade at USD120.84 a barrel, up USD14.28 on its U.S. counterpart.
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