Crude Futures Pare Early Asia Losses

Oil unwound the early losses experienced in Asia-Pac trade, with WTI & Brent futures trading a handful of cents softer on the day into European hours. The initial pressure came on the back of increased prospects of Japan joining the likes of the U.S. & China in planning a coordinated inventory release from its national oil reserves. However, questions re: the scale of such a release from Japan, given the focus of national law on addressing inventories, not prices, coupled with the lack of an immediate decision (officials pointed to no decision being made as of yet) and a sizeable release arguably being priced into markets already, made for a relatively quick snapback. The major futures benchmarks currently trade a little over $1.00 above their respective session lows as a result. Note that WTI futures failed to challenge key support in the form of the Oct 7 low ($74.25).