SINGAPORE – Oil was higher in Asian trade Thursday after falling sharply in recent days, boosted by Japanese traders returning to the market following a long holiday, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June, was up 25 cents to $80.22 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for June delivery gained 18 cents to $82.79.
Trading volume had been lower than usual in recent days due to the Japanese market being closed and investors staying away on worries about debt-laden Greece, analysts said.
"For the last three days trading volume in Asia has been slightly softer than usual. So now, we are coming back to the market," Ken Hasegawa, energy desk manager of brokerage firm Newedge Japan, told Agence France-Presse.
He said the market also moved up along with a new "technical point of $80."
Prices have slumped more than six dollars since touching $87.15 Monday, the highest level since October 2008, as worries over the Greek debt crisis sent the dollar higher, analysts said.
The market was also weighed down by rising oil inventories in the US, indicating weakening demand in the world's largest energy consuming nation.
Data released Wednesday by the US Department of Energy showed crude stockpiles soared 2.8 million barrels last week. That was far greater than market expectations for a gain of around 700,000 barrels, according to analysts.
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