Tumult in Libya, U.S. rig counts, production plans of the oil exporting cartel and a pact on nuclear relations with Iran can all affect crude supply and demand, but oil traders have kept an equally close watch on retail investors in recent weeks.
Sectors
Atlanta Fed gauge shows U.S. GDP nearly flat in first quarter
A forecast model from the Federal Reserve of Atlanta on Wednesday suggested the U.S. economy is barely growing in the first quarter following an unexpectedly steep 1.4 percent drop in durable goods orders in February.
Oil up 3 percent on weak dollar, speculative buying, Yemen
Oil settled up about 3 percent on Wednesday as a weak dollar, fighting in Yemen and speculative buying boosted crude prices in spite of U.S. inventories building to record highs for an 11th week.
Australia kicks off $39 billion submarine tender
Australia has invited Germany, France and Japan to pitch for a contract to build its new submarine fleet, kicking off a contentious A$50 billion ($38.8 billion) project which has become a political football at home.
Business group ranks U.S. near last in welcoming skilled immigrants
The United States ranks near the bottom among major economies in terms of policies to allow hiring highly skilled immigrant workers, according to a study by a business lobbying group that supports relaxing immigration controls.
Latest News
Greece said it will present a package of reforms to its euro zone partners by next Monday in hope of unlocking aid to help it deal with a cash crunch and avoid default.
Euro zone businesses ramped up activity this month, just as the European Central Bank starts printing money to spur growth and inflation, while a slowdown among Chinese factories has fueled calls for more stimulus there.
British inflation vanished last month, hitting zero for the first time on record, official figures showed on Tuesday. The annual rate of consumer price inflation dropped to zero percent, from 0.3 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said, keeping a rate rise by the Bank of England firmly off the table for now.
Brent crude reversed early losses to trade back towards $57 a barrel on Tuesday, as a weaker dollar overshadowed signs of slowing growth in China and Saudi Arabian oil production close to an all-time high.
U.S.-based property investment fund Aetos Capital Real Estate is preparing to sell Simplex Investment Advisors, a Japanese real estate asset management firm, seeking as much as 200 billion yen ($1.7 billion), people with knowledge of the deal said.
IBM Corp will share technology with Chinese firms and will actively help build China's industry, CEO Virginia Rometty said in Beijing as she set out a strategy for one of the foreign firms hardest hit by China's shifting technology policies.
Amazon Inc's Twitch unit said on Monday there may have been unauthorized access to some of its user account information, according to the live streaming gaming network's official blog.
Italian prosecutors have wrapped up an investigation into allegations U.S. tech giant Apple (AAPL.O) failed to pay corporate taxes to the tune of 879 million euros ($964 million), two sources said on Monday.
Online video platform Vessel launched its paid subscription service on Tuesday, offering programming at least three days before other websites in a bid to reshape an industry dominated by free content on Google Inc's YouTube.
