Oil prices rose in Asia today but analysts said the Euro zone’s economic woes continue to cast a shadow on the market.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, gained 17 cents to $96.75 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for May delivery advanced 11 cents to $109.80 in mid-morning trade.
Analysts, however, said the market remains weighed down by lingering economic problems in the Euro zone, highlighted by an 11th-hour deal that averted a banking collapse in Cyprus, which continued to stoke investor concerns.
“While the Cyprus saga has still to play out, attention has already turned to who could be the next for a similar bailout.
Fingers are pointing at Slovenia, Malta and Luxembourg,” IG Markets Singapore said in a report.
“The fact that there are so many candidates in line for help doesn’t bode well for the region’s three-year-long debt crisis,” it added.