* Euro, stock markets rally on aid package, help lift oil
* Crude surges after biggest weekly loss since Dec, 2008
* Coming up: Industry U.S. oil inventory report on Tuesday
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity; changes byline, new
dateline, previously LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices rallied on Monday
as a $1 trillion global emergency package to stabilize the euro
boosted stock markets and commodities as investor risk appetite
increased.
The size of the package surprised market participants and
boosted confidence that oil demand growth will continue,
lifting crude prices in the first trading session after their
biggest weekly loss since December, 2008.
"The risk trade has come back after traders last week ran
for cover as the uncertainty about the (Greece) bailout plan
kept traders on edge," Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research
in Chicago said in a note.
The rescue package consists of 440 billion euros in
guarantees from euro area states, plus 60 billion euros in a
European stabilization fund that could be disbursed to help
euro zone states if needed. A further 250 billion euros would
come from the International Monetary Fund. []
U.S. light crude oil futures for June delivery <CLc1> were
up $1.58 at $76.69 a barrel at 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT) on
Monday, after hitting an intraday high of $78.51, up $3.40. ICE
Brent crude for June <LCOc1> rose $1.83 to $80.10.
Global equities markets and the euro <EUR=> rebounded and
the dollar index slipped <.DXY> as news of the rescue package
helped calm risk aversion. [] []
On Wall Street, major stock indexes surged more than 4
percent early, with the S&P 500 index <.SPX> racking up its
best opening on record as the rescue package eased fears that
Greece's debt crisis would spread. []
OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said he expected
the rescue package to boost oil prices back above $80 a barrel,
but warned of wild price swings as the global economy continued
on its path to recovery.
"I think the market will look positively at this
development," Badri told reporters on the sidelines of the Arab
Energy Conference. "I assume prices would go back to normal,
where it was ... back up to $80 plus." []
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For a graph of crude oil futures and world stocks, click
http://link.reuters.com/hez43k
For a graph of front-month crude contract volatility,
click:
http://link.reuters.com/jez43k
For a graph of 2010 commodity price performance, click:
http://link.reuters.com/hun72k
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Badri said on Sunday oil markets were oversupplied and
urged better compliance with OPEC output targets agreed to in
2008, but said it was too early to talk about OPEC action to
halt the price fall sparked by the euro zone debt crisis.
[]
Top exporter Saudi Arabia will maintain full volumes to its
main Asian customers and keep supplies steady to at least one
European major next month. []
China imported 21.17 million tonnes of crude oil or 5.15
million barrels per day in April, a record high level on a
daily basis, according to customs department data. That was 31
percent higher than a year earlier, when imports were at 16.17
million tonnes. []
Price charts show U.S. crude temporarily supported at
$74.51 and expected to rebound to $78 as the drop last week was
too sharp not to be followed by a powerful rebound.
U.S. crude futures started last week posting an $87.15
intraday peak on Monday that was the highest front-month crude
price since $89.82 was struck on Oct. 9, 2008.
Then four losing sessions left crude prices down $11.04, or
12.81 percent for the week, the biggest weekly percentage loss
since the week to Dec. 19, 2008, when the percentage loss was
26.82 percent, according to Reuters data.
High U.S. oil inventories, especially at the Cushing,
Oklahoma, delivery point for U.S. benchmark crude oil, have
kept front-month crude futures priced well below the next
month. The spread was more than $3 on Monday <CL-1=R>.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Christopher
Johnson in London, Alejandro Barbajosa in Tokyo; Editing by
David Gregorio)
