Oil sees overnight gains, trades at $43.96

Brent oil is trading higher at $43.96 per barrel Friday after a substantial rally of almost two dollars a barrel from Thursday’s lows.

Analysts now say it does appear oil has turned a corner, and put in a low for now having bounced up off the 41.50 $./bbl level several times according a note from Goldman Sachs.

The catalyst has been product led buying, and an uptick in the beleaguered European refinery margin.

Oil prices have rallied sharply from January lows as the market has started to slowly rebalance, while gold has shone in the wake of shocks like the Brexit vote and uncertainty about the outcome of the US Presidential election.

“Much of the investor demand this year been tactical and, unless the asset class continues to generate strong returns in the second half then outflows could resume,” said Barclays analyst Kevin Norrish.

“Our price forecasts for key commodities like copper and oil suggest a flat to negative second half of the year, which is likely to encourage some net liquidation.”