* Data shows new U.S. home sales rebounded in March
* China economy seen growing almost 10 pct this year
* Greece asks for financial aid from EU/IMF
(Recasts, updates prices, adds quotes, previously LONDON)
By Daniel Wallis
NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $84 a barrel
on Friday as a sharp jump in new home sales signaled a stronger
economic recovery in the United States and boosted the outlook
for energy demand.
"The very positive new home sales report was good for
crude," said Robert Yawger, senior vice president, energy
futures at MF Global in New York.
"The Brent premium to WTI is being supported by the high
inventories at Cushing and Asian demand," he added.
Wall Street stocks edged up after data showed sales of
newly built U.S. single-family homes surged nearly 27 percent
in March to touch their highest level in eight months, adding
to optimism about corporate earnings. []
Oil prices were also supported by growing demand in booming
China and India, and by indebted Greece's decision to activate
European Union and International Monetary Fund aid, though
doubts remained over whether it would lead to a long-term fix.
Demand for crude is set to grow seasonally in the
agriculture and transport sectors.
"We are going to see more demand coming in spring and
summer and that is going to push prices higher," said Peter
McGuire, managing director of Commodity Warrants Australia in
Sydney, adding that he expected oil to approach $90 in June.
U.S. crude for June delivery <CLM0> was up 93 cents to
$84.62 a barrel at 1:25 p.m. EDT (1725 GMT), after reversing a
$2 intra-day drop on Thursday. An 18-month high above $87 was
last reached on April 6.
The front-month U.S. crude contract was heading for its
first weekly increase in a fortnight, shrugging off rising
domestic stockpiles of crude and oil product inventories.
But U.S. crude was trading more than $2 below ICE Brent for
June <LCOM0>, the benchmark for most of Europe, Africa and
Asia, which rose $1.15 to $86.82 a barrel.
Most traders think Brent better represents world oil
balances, because U.S. crude prices can be locally affected by
gluts at the land-locked Cushing, Oklahoma pricing point, where
stocks jumped last week. []
The dollar rose to a fresh two-week high against the yen
following U.S. home sales data, while the euro trimmed gains
versus the greenback. []
Energy-hungry China's economy will probably grow by about
9.9 percent this year, compared with a previous outlook of 9.1
percent, according to forecasts published on Friday by the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. []
And prices were also supported by improving business
sentiment in Germany, the world's third largest economy, where
a closely watched survey gave the brightest outlook from 7,000
firms since May 2008. []
(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons and Gene Ramos in New
York, David Sheppard in London and Alejandro Barbajosa in
Singapore; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Carole
Vaporean)
