Oil settles higher boosted by latest COVID-19 vaccine progress | Reuters

Oil settles higher boosted by latest COVID-19 vaccine progress | Reuters

Oil prices settled up more than 2% on Monday after trading higher earlier in the day as Moderna Inc MRNA.O said its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19.

Brent crude futures for January LCOc1 settled up 1.04, or 2.43%, at $43.82 a barrel, after earlier rising more than 4%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for December CLc1 was up $1.21, or 3%, at $41.34.

“There was a little bit of excess buying pressure, which pushed us ahead of where the fundamentals supported us, so we only partially held the gains,” said Gary Cunningham, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford. “We have an overhanging concern over global demand as COVID-19 outbreaks continue around the world.”

The announcement by Moderna comes after Pfizer Inc PFE.N reported last week that its vaccine was more than 90% effective, raising hopes that pandemic-driven damage to the global economy could be reduced.

Prices were also buoyed by data showing a rebound in China and Japan, with figures showing that Chinese refineries processed record daily levels of crude in October.