Oil gains nearly 3% on vaccine hopes, even as nations reimpose lockdowns | Reuters

Oil gains nearly 3% on vaccine hopes, even as nations reimpose lockdowns | Reuters

Oil ended nearly 3% higher on Tuesday as hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine is on the horizon outweighed worries about a drop in fuel demand from new lockdowns to contain the virus.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures settled up $1.21, or 2.9%, at $43.61 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures gained $1.07, or 2.7%, to $41.36.

Both contracts jumped 8% on Monday, their biggest daily gains in more than five months, after drugmakers Pfizer PFE.N and BioNTech 22UAy.F said their experimental COVID-19 treatment was more than 90% effective based on initial trial results.

Oil bounced again Tuesday afternoon after the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, said doses of the vaccine will be available for people at the highest priority in December.