Oil rally loses steam as ECB move fails to calm markets
( Oil prices pulled back from a massive early rally Thursday as a plan by the European Central Bank to buy huge amounts of bonds failed to calm coronavirus-ravaged markets.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate had surged more than 17 percent at the open in Asian trade, recouping enormous losses Wednesday when prices hit 18-year lows.
But it lost a large chunk of those gains in the afternoon and was trading up almost 12 per cent at USD 22 a barrel.
International benchmark Brent crude initially jumped 8.5 per cent but lost ground later, and was up 4.6 per cent at USD 26 a barrel in late Asian business.
Asian stocks also made strong early gains on the ECB move but later slipped into negative territory as optimism about the plan was eclipsed by concerns the global economy is headed for a long, deep recession.
