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Crude oil futures closed higher in the domestic market on Tuesday as investors and speculators booked fresh positions in the energy commodity as a drop in crude stockpiles as Cushing, the biggest US oil storage hub signaled improving demand for the fuel in the world’s biggest crude oil consumer. Crude oil stockpiles at Cushing fell 590,000 barrels last week, the API said. Overall US crude stockpiles rose by 912,000 barrels last week. The US and the EU threatened to slap Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, with more sanctions if Moscow doesn’t help stem the unrest in eastern Ukraine, raising supply fears over the fuel. US retail sales rose in April after surging in the previous month while small business optimism surged to the highest level since November 2007, signaling a pickup in the world’s biggest economy, lifting the demand outlook for the fuel. Retail sales climbed 0.1 per cent in April over the previous month, when they jumped 1.5 per cent, the Commerce Department said. The gauge measuring US small business optimism rose to 95.2 last month from 93.4 in March, NFIB said. Crude oil futures may rise today ahead of data which may show a drop in US crude stockpiles last week. At the MCX, Crude Oil futures, for the May 2014 contract closed at Rs 6,030 per barrel, up by 0.62 per cent, after opening at Rs 6,008, against a previous close of Rs 5,993. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 6,060.
