Rebounds On Thursday, Aided By Broader Risk On Tone

Oil benchmarks rallied through US trade on Thursday. From the $80.70/75/bbl region, front month Brent pushed back to $83.25/bbl. We closed near $82.85/bbl, a gain of 1.5%. This offset Wednesday's 1.4% dip, but more broadly oil benchmarks remain within recent ranges. Front month WTI gained 1.8%, to finish just above $78/bbl on Thursday.

• Broader risk on tones, particularly from the equity space, coupled with USD losses, aided oil sentiment.
• In terms of news flow, global oil demand growth is forecast to rise by 1.2mbpd, unchanged from last month’s report, according to the IEA Monthly Oil Market Report. The report also stated that the market could be in surplus for all of this year.
• In the Middle East, wires carried comments from Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi stating that "We will continue our operations as long as Israel continues its crimes."
• For Brent, recent highs rest at $83.60/bbl, beyond that lies Jan 29 highs at $84.80/bbl. On the downside, recent dips sub $81/bbl have been supported.