By Keith Wallis
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices fell as much as over 2 percent in early Asian trade on Wednesday, as a stronger than expected build in U.S. crude oil stocks and weaker U.S. manufacturing data fueled a rout in prices that started in the previous session.
Brent and U.S. crude finished around 8 percent lower on Tuesday to end a 25-percent three-session surge, the largest three-day gain since 1990.
That came after oil prices dropped to their lowest level in 6-1/2 years last week.
This rollercoaster volatility could continue especially if there are similar wild swings in the equity markets, said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney’s CMC Markets.
“Any change in sentiment tends to be amplified. Any change in direction in the oil markets has the potential to be risk driven by what’s going on in the equity markets,” he said.
U.S. stocks fell nearly 3 percent on Wall Street on Tuesday, with all three major U.S. equity indexes in negative territory for the year so far.
Oil prices retreated after U.S. crude stocks surged by 7.6 million barrels to 456.9 million in the week to Aug. 28, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday. Analysts in a Reuters poll expected just a 32,000 barrel gain.
Official inventory data will be released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration later on Wednesday.
Weaker than expected U.S. manufacturing data from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), which showed growth in August slowed to its lowest level since May 2013, also weighed on oil prices in the Asia timezone.
Upcoming U.S. data, including oil stocks, factory orders and employment figures, will be important in giving oil markets direction, Spooner said.
Brent crude (LCOc1) for October delivery had dropped 64 cents to $ 48.90 a barrel, or 1.3 percent, as of 0035 GMT after falling $ 4.59, or 8.48 percent, in the previous session.
The benchmark fell to $ 48.48 a barrel immediately after trading started on Wednesday.
U.S. crude for October delivery declined 79 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $ 44.62 a barrel after ending down $ 3.79, or 7.7 percent, in the previous session. It dropped to $ 43.86 a barrel shortly after the market opened.
Oil prices are expected to end the week down, but should be above last week’s lows, Spooner said.
Crude prices have fallen too far, too fast and should recover gradually over the next year, with Brent averaging $ 62.30 a barrel in 2016 and U.S. crude $ 57 a barrel, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Keith Wallis; Editing by Joseph Radford)
