Office Depot, a provider of office products and services, announced that it has formed an exclusive agreement with DriveSavers, a supplier of data recovery services, to offer professional data recovery services to customers at Office Depot retail locations nationwide.
In the event that a storage drive - such as a computer hard drive, USB drive or a media card - fails, and critical data is lost, Office Depot customers can now take advantage of certified and secure data recovery services from DriveSavers.
"Adding data recovery services from DriveSavers is another way we are taking care of business for our customers," said Randy Wick, Vice President of Merchandising for Office Depot. "Not only is DriveSavers one of the most successful data recovery companies in the industry with consistently high success rates, they also share our philosophy and commitment to delivering excellent customer service."
"Digital data is the life line for almost every business," said Scott Gaidano, President of DriveSavers Data Recovery. "When data loss occurs and critical data is lost, retrieving data quickly and completely is critical to a business. At DriveSavers, we have advanced technologies, technical expertise and a certified secure environment to optimize the success of every data recovery. Think ER for hard drives."
Source
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
ADR Report-Foreign stocks fall on data; Q2 best in a decade
NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - U.S.-listed shares of foreign companies fell on Tuesday as investors cooled expectations about an economic recovery after data showed a surprisomg slide in consumer confidence, even as ADRs closed their best quarter in almost a decade.
The Conference Board's measure of U.S. consumer confidence slid in June after a sharp rise in May, and hurt recovery expectations as consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) .BKADR fell 1.1 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI down 1 percent and the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX off 0.9 percent.
For the second quarter, the ADR index jumped 24.6 percent, its best quarterly performance since the 28.3 percent rise during the fourth quarter of 1999.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs .BKAS lost 1.2 percent. Bellwether China Mobile Ltd (CHL.N) and PetroChina Co (PTR.N) slid, with China Mobile's ADRs down 2.3 percent at $50.08 and PetroChina's U.S.-listed stock down 3.1 percent at $110.48.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading European ADRs .BKEUR fell 1 percent, with ADRs of Deutsche bank (DB.N), down 2.6 percent at $61, among the top drags. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares fell 1.1 percent, weighed down by banks and energy companies.
The bank's index of Latin American ADRs .BKLA shed 0.9 percent in the session, with Peruvian miner Buenaventura (BVN.N) among the biggest losers, down 4.1 percent at $24.03.
Source
The Conference Board's measure of U.S. consumer confidence slid in June after a sharp rise in May, and hurt recovery expectations as consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) .BKADR fell 1.1 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI down 1 percent and the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX off 0.9 percent.
For the second quarter, the ADR index jumped 24.6 percent, its best quarterly performance since the 28.3 percent rise during the fourth quarter of 1999.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs .BKAS lost 1.2 percent. Bellwether China Mobile Ltd (CHL.N) and PetroChina Co (PTR.N) slid, with China Mobile's ADRs down 2.3 percent at $50.08 and PetroChina's U.S.-listed stock down 3.1 percent at $110.48.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading European ADRs .BKEUR fell 1 percent, with ADRs of Deutsche bank (DB.N), down 2.6 percent at $61, among the top drags. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares fell 1.1 percent, weighed down by banks and energy companies.
The bank's index of Latin American ADRs .BKLA shed 0.9 percent in the session, with Peruvian miner Buenaventura (BVN.N) among the biggest losers, down 4.1 percent at $24.03.
Source
Monday, September 14, 2009
ANALYSIS-Tepid recovery seen for Canada's housing market
TORONTO, July 1 (Reuters) - The worst of Canada's housing market woes appear to be past but the sector's rebound will be tenuous as a rise in mortgage rates and high unemployment limit the recovery in prices and sales.
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Property experts say first-time buyers and Bank of Canada rate cuts have helped restore stability to a market that slumped from late 2008 to early this year, when the worst leg of the global financial crisis battered consumer confidence.
'We should be less fearful than we were six months ago, but I don't think we should be exuberant yet. The resale markets in Canada are very strong. May numbers were pretty good, and June numbers will be even better,' said Will Dunning, an economic consultant who specializes in the housing market.
'But by July and into the fall there will be an offset of considerably slower activity. I don't think it's likely to go off a cliff. It'll depend on what happens in employment and the broader economy, and how that affects confidence.'
Recent data suggests Canada's residential property market, which weathered the financial crisis much better than its hard-hit U.S. counterpart, has been thawing for several months.
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The latest Canadian Real Estate Association data shows May resale home prices rose 0.4 percent to C$319,757 ($275,653), topping the previous record set a year earlier. It was the first year-over-year increase since May last year. And sales activity climbed for a fourth straight month.
The industry group, which represents more than 97,000 real estate brokers and agents, also cut its forecast for a drop in home prices this year and said it expected sales activity to trend higher.
Meanwhile, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the national housing agency, forecast in its second-quarter outlook that new home construction is expected to decline to 141,900 units in 2009 but rebound next year.
Still, no one predicts the residential property market is headed back to the heady times seen between 2002 and 2007, when prices surged and outpaced income growth. In some cities, such as Vancouver, British Columbia, and Calgary, Alberta, home prices doubled and are now going through a sharp correction.
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Property experts say first-time buyers and Bank of Canada rate cuts have helped restore stability to a market that slumped from late 2008 to early this year, when the worst leg of the global financial crisis battered consumer confidence.
'We should be less fearful than we were six months ago, but I don't think we should be exuberant yet. The resale markets in Canada are very strong. May numbers were pretty good, and June numbers will be even better,' said Will Dunning, an economic consultant who specializes in the housing market.
'But by July and into the fall there will be an offset of considerably slower activity. I don't think it's likely to go off a cliff. It'll depend on what happens in employment and the broader economy, and how that affects confidence.'
Recent data suggests Canada's residential property market, which weathered the financial crisis much better than its hard-hit U.S. counterpart, has been thawing for several months.
Rate This Story
Your Rating
Overall Rating
Reader Comments
Comment On This Story
The latest Canadian Real Estate Association data shows May resale home prices rose 0.4 percent to C$319,757 ($275,653), topping the previous record set a year earlier. It was the first year-over-year increase since May last year. And sales activity climbed for a fourth straight month.
The industry group, which represents more than 97,000 real estate brokers and agents, also cut its forecast for a drop in home prices this year and said it expected sales activity to trend higher.
Meanwhile, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the national housing agency, forecast in its second-quarter outlook that new home construction is expected to decline to 141,900 units in 2009 but rebound next year.
Still, no one predicts the residential property market is headed back to the heady times seen between 2002 and 2007, when prices surged and outpaced income growth. In some cities, such as Vancouver, British Columbia, and Calgary, Alberta, home prices doubled and are now going through a sharp correction.
Source
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Brazil stocks, real close up on global data
SAO PAULO, July 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks rose on Wednesday but ended well off the day's highs as data from major economies gave mixed signals on a possible global recovery while heavyweight Petrobras slumped along with oil prices.
The benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP closed up 0.15 percent at 51,543.78 as investors retrenched from a morning rush that had added as much as 1.6 percent.
Data from major economies shed little light on the sustainability of a possible economic recovery, with investors balancing weakness in the U.S. labor market with incipient signs of improvement in the global manufacturing sector.
Despite deeper-than-expected payroll cuts by U.S. private employers, manufacturing data from the United States, euro zone and China provided investors with some relief, boosting global stock markets. U.S. manufacturing contracted more slowly in June and euro zone manufacturing contracted less than expected that same month. Manufacturing in China, an important engine of the global economy, notched another month of growth.
Brazil's currency, the real BRBY, climbed 1.68 percent to 1.93 reais to the dollar as hopes for a global recovery increased appetite for risk. The currency also benefited from news that Brazil's trade surplus widened more than expected in June to its widest level since December 2006. See [ID:nN01502493].
At the stock market, Vale (VALE5.SA), the world's largest iron-ore producer, rose 0.90 percent to 30.12 reais as copper prices rose. A rally in metal prices also boosted shares in some steelmarkers, with Usiminas (USIM5.SA) up 2.62 percent at 42.7 reais and Gerdau (GGBR4.SA) 0.44 percent higher at 20.59 reais.
Source
The benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP closed up 0.15 percent at 51,543.78 as investors retrenched from a morning rush that had added as much as 1.6 percent.
Data from major economies shed little light on the sustainability of a possible economic recovery, with investors balancing weakness in the U.S. labor market with incipient signs of improvement in the global manufacturing sector.
Despite deeper-than-expected payroll cuts by U.S. private employers, manufacturing data from the United States, euro zone and China provided investors with some relief, boosting global stock markets. U.S. manufacturing contracted more slowly in June and euro zone manufacturing contracted less than expected that same month. Manufacturing in China, an important engine of the global economy, notched another month of growth.
Brazil's currency, the real BRBY, climbed 1.68 percent to 1.93 reais to the dollar as hopes for a global recovery increased appetite for risk. The currency also benefited from news that Brazil's trade surplus widened more than expected in June to its widest level since December 2006. See [ID:nN01502493].
At the stock market, Vale (VALE5.SA), the world's largest iron-ore producer, rose 0.90 percent to 30.12 reais as copper prices rose. A rally in metal prices also boosted shares in some steelmarkers, with Usiminas (USIM5.SA) up 2.62 percent at 42.7 reais and Gerdau (GGBR4.SA) 0.44 percent higher at 20.59 reais.
Source
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Bank Fees Rise as Lenders Try to Offset Losses
Even now, after all those bailouts, banks never seem to tire of dipping a little deeper into your wallet. Despite the tough economic times and increased scrutiny from Washington, they are keeping most fees at record highs, and are eking out slight increases on others like overdraft charges — a step they rarely took during past recessions.
The result? Americans are paying more to save and spend their money.
And while the increases are still relatively small by historical standards, they illustrate how banks are looking for almost any nugget of income to help offset huge loan losses and lower revenue as consumers buckle down on spending.
The nation’s biggest banks — those that received the biggest bailouts from taxpayers, and are once again gaining strength — charge fees that are on average at least 20 percent higher than those at smaller lenders, according to Moebs Services, a economic research firm used by banks and federal regulators.
Some of the charges are getting more creative. Several big banks — including JPMorgan Chase, US Bancorp and Wells Fargo & — recently began billing some small-business customers for federal deposit insurance increases. Citigroup and PNC Financial assess around a 3 percent international transaction fee when customers swipe their debit cards overseas.
Bank of America recently introduced a raft of changes. In June, it raised the fees on its basic monthly checking account to $8.95 from $5.95. In April, the bank considered raising its overdraft charge to $39, nearly double what the typical bank charged a decade ago. It backed down only after an eruption of consumer complaints, tweaking its rules to keep its initial fee at $35.
And then there are credit cards: banks are scrambling to raise rates and fees before a credit card reform bill that President Obama signed into law last month takes effect. JPMorgan Chase recently announced it would raise some balance transfer fees to 5 percent, from 3 percent, in August. Citigroup, Bank of America and other lenders have also been raising the interest rates for millions of cardholders.
Over all, fees at the biggest banks are running at their highest levels on record. The average A.T.M. charge, which generates billions of dollars for banks annually, rose at the end of 2008 to $1.97, up from $1.78 the year before and nearly double the 89-cent average recorded in 1998, according to Bankrate.com.
Other charges are more eye-popping: today’s typical $30 stop-payment fee is about twice as much as a decade ago, according to Moebs.
But the most unexpected change has occurred in overdraft fees — the industry’s most lucrative and controversial charge — where the typical fee rose to $26 after five years at $25.
That is only a modest 4 percent increase, compared with the double-digit overdraft fee increases a few years ago, when charges rose to $25 from $22. But amid intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers, consumer advocates — and even some bankers— are surprised.
“We’ve never seen a price increase during a recession,” said Michael Moebs, the chief economist and founder of the research firm that analyzed the fee data at more than 2,200 lenders. “What the bankers are saying is that I want to maintain my revenue.”
Scott E. Talbott, a lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, said that the banks’ fees reflect the cost of providing those services and the rise in overdraft charges reflects increased risk. “There is an increased riskiness around repayment because of the recession,” he added.
Most banks have been reluctant to raise overdraft fees or have made subtle but potentially lucrative changes to how they are assessed. Bankers are worried about criticism from Washington and would rather find ways to bolster profits under the radar.
For instance, many banks already generate rich profits by charging consumers high interest rates for loans, while keeping interest rates paid on money market and checking accounts low — a trend that has become more acute as the Federal Reserve keeps rates near zero to help stoke an economic recovery.
But that may not be enough. Large banks, which tend to charge the highest fees, incur a range of expenses that smaller banks do not, including high nationwide advertising bills and the costs of operating networks of A.T.M.’s and retail branches. Many smaller banks are also struggling now more than ever to offset losses and dwindling revenue.
And as consumers themselves rein in their finances, raising the overdraft fee has become an easy option. With fewer customers overdrawing their accounts, overdraft fees risk shrinking to a smaller income stream from what Moebs estimates is a $38.5 billion business this year. That is, unless banks raise fees on customers who run into trouble.
Aaron Fine, a retail banking consultant at Oliver Wyman, said that overdraft fee income could fall 5 to 20 percent for some banks in the second and third quarter. “That is the multibillion-dollar question,” he said. “How do you replace those fees with something else?”
Two large regional banks, which have been hit hard by the recession, appear to be struggling to find answers.
KeyCorp, a regional lender based in Cleveland, raised its overdraft fee by 50 cents to a dollar for repeat offenders in the last few months, bringing its maximum charge to as much as $39. Comerica, which has big operations in Michigan and California, raised similar fees by approximately $2 to $3 when it introduced a tiered fee structure that charges $25 to $37 as the number of offenses increase.
Regulators and lawmakers say they plan to crack down on excessive service fees, just as they did with a new bill barring unfair credit card practices. Federal Reserve officials have proposed new rules that would let debit and A.T.M. customers “opt in” for overdraft protection, or allow existing customers to opt out of the service.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, introduced more stringent legislation this spring requiring banks to notify customers before they overdraw their accounts.
Of course, consumers do not have to be taken in. Consumer advocates suggest comparing the fees charged by big banks with those of credit unions and community lenders in a given area. When possible, use an A.T.M. in the bank’s network. And if you do incur fees, ask your bank manager about waiving them.
Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at BankRate.com, said that as banking fees head into overdrive, consumers simply need to be more alert. “We will have to be on our toes to avoid getting tripped up,” he said.
Source
The result? Americans are paying more to save and spend their money.
And while the increases are still relatively small by historical standards, they illustrate how banks are looking for almost any nugget of income to help offset huge loan losses and lower revenue as consumers buckle down on spending.
The nation’s biggest banks — those that received the biggest bailouts from taxpayers, and are once again gaining strength — charge fees that are on average at least 20 percent higher than those at smaller lenders, according to Moebs Services, a economic research firm used by banks and federal regulators.
Some of the charges are getting more creative. Several big banks — including JPMorgan Chase, US Bancorp and Wells Fargo & — recently began billing some small-business customers for federal deposit insurance increases. Citigroup and PNC Financial assess around a 3 percent international transaction fee when customers swipe their debit cards overseas.
Bank of America recently introduced a raft of changes. In June, it raised the fees on its basic monthly checking account to $8.95 from $5.95. In April, the bank considered raising its overdraft charge to $39, nearly double what the typical bank charged a decade ago. It backed down only after an eruption of consumer complaints, tweaking its rules to keep its initial fee at $35.
And then there are credit cards: banks are scrambling to raise rates and fees before a credit card reform bill that President Obama signed into law last month takes effect. JPMorgan Chase recently announced it would raise some balance transfer fees to 5 percent, from 3 percent, in August. Citigroup, Bank of America and other lenders have also been raising the interest rates for millions of cardholders.
Over all, fees at the biggest banks are running at their highest levels on record. The average A.T.M. charge, which generates billions of dollars for banks annually, rose at the end of 2008 to $1.97, up from $1.78 the year before and nearly double the 89-cent average recorded in 1998, according to Bankrate.com.
Other charges are more eye-popping: today’s typical $30 stop-payment fee is about twice as much as a decade ago, according to Moebs.
But the most unexpected change has occurred in overdraft fees — the industry’s most lucrative and controversial charge — where the typical fee rose to $26 after five years at $25.
That is only a modest 4 percent increase, compared with the double-digit overdraft fee increases a few years ago, when charges rose to $25 from $22. But amid intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers, consumer advocates — and even some bankers— are surprised.
“We’ve never seen a price increase during a recession,” said Michael Moebs, the chief economist and founder of the research firm that analyzed the fee data at more than 2,200 lenders. “What the bankers are saying is that I want to maintain my revenue.”
Scott E. Talbott, a lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, said that the banks’ fees reflect the cost of providing those services and the rise in overdraft charges reflects increased risk. “There is an increased riskiness around repayment because of the recession,” he added.
Most banks have been reluctant to raise overdraft fees or have made subtle but potentially lucrative changes to how they are assessed. Bankers are worried about criticism from Washington and would rather find ways to bolster profits under the radar.
For instance, many banks already generate rich profits by charging consumers high interest rates for loans, while keeping interest rates paid on money market and checking accounts low — a trend that has become more acute as the Federal Reserve keeps rates near zero to help stoke an economic recovery.
But that may not be enough. Large banks, which tend to charge the highest fees, incur a range of expenses that smaller banks do not, including high nationwide advertising bills and the costs of operating networks of A.T.M.’s and retail branches. Many smaller banks are also struggling now more than ever to offset losses and dwindling revenue.
And as consumers themselves rein in their finances, raising the overdraft fee has become an easy option. With fewer customers overdrawing their accounts, overdraft fees risk shrinking to a smaller income stream from what Moebs estimates is a $38.5 billion business this year. That is, unless banks raise fees on customers who run into trouble.
Aaron Fine, a retail banking consultant at Oliver Wyman, said that overdraft fee income could fall 5 to 20 percent for some banks in the second and third quarter. “That is the multibillion-dollar question,” he said. “How do you replace those fees with something else?”
Two large regional banks, which have been hit hard by the recession, appear to be struggling to find answers.
KeyCorp, a regional lender based in Cleveland, raised its overdraft fee by 50 cents to a dollar for repeat offenders in the last few months, bringing its maximum charge to as much as $39. Comerica, which has big operations in Michigan and California, raised similar fees by approximately $2 to $3 when it introduced a tiered fee structure that charges $25 to $37 as the number of offenses increase.
Regulators and lawmakers say they plan to crack down on excessive service fees, just as they did with a new bill barring unfair credit card practices. Federal Reserve officials have proposed new rules that would let debit and A.T.M. customers “opt in” for overdraft protection, or allow existing customers to opt out of the service.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, introduced more stringent legislation this spring requiring banks to notify customers before they overdraw their accounts.
Of course, consumers do not have to be taken in. Consumer advocates suggest comparing the fees charged by big banks with those of credit unions and community lenders in a given area. When possible, use an A.T.M. in the bank’s network. And if you do incur fees, ask your bank manager about waiving them.
Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at BankRate.com, said that as banking fees head into overdrive, consumers simply need to be more alert. “We will have to be on our toes to avoid getting tripped up,” he said.
Source
Monday, August 3, 2009
Startup offers recovery services for midrange companies
Recovery service provider (RSP) Simply Continuous today unveiled data and application recovery services for mid-market customers.
The new services include Data Recovery Vault (for data) and AppAlive (for applications). Data Recovery Vault and AppAlive integrate into existing backup infrastructures and allow companies to peer into their data through a Web portal that allows users to monitor, browse or restore files.
The Simply Continuous recovery architecture combines a variety of technologies, including data compression, data deduplication, network acceleration, encryption, off-site monitoring and recovery processes. The services automatically and continuously replicate data and virtualized application images.
Data Recovery Vault employs more than 1,300 sensors to actively monitor the service infrastructure so data sets are ready to be recovered when and if needed.
AppAlive captures current images of applications, stores them and provides customers with a hosted recovery environment for virtualized applications.
Tom Frangione, Simply Continuous' CEO, says mid-market customers are facing a "recovery gap."
"Large enterprises have the skills and resources to set up a second data center and deliver recovery services themselves. On the lower end, small businesses are avoiding tape altogether and that's where the Mozys of the world come in," says Frangione. "Mid-market customers have large data sets to manage, but we don't foresee many of them adding additional resources to manage those data sets. They are caught in the middle."
Simply Continuous is backed by $10 million in funding from Greylock Partners and already has a big partner in its pocket. Last fall, the company announced a partnership with Data Domain under which Simply Continuous offers an offsite data protection service called Data Protect Vault for Data Domain.
Simply Continuous uses Data Domain's deduplication storage systems to replicate data offsite. In the event of an outage, customers can recover individual files remotely or, in the event of a site disaster, request a replacement Data Domain appliance to be shipped to the recovery site.
Source
The new services include Data Recovery Vault (for data) and AppAlive (for applications). Data Recovery Vault and AppAlive integrate into existing backup infrastructures and allow companies to peer into their data through a Web portal that allows users to monitor, browse or restore files.
The Simply Continuous recovery architecture combines a variety of technologies, including data compression, data deduplication, network acceleration, encryption, off-site monitoring and recovery processes. The services automatically and continuously replicate data and virtualized application images.
Data Recovery Vault employs more than 1,300 sensors to actively monitor the service infrastructure so data sets are ready to be recovered when and if needed.
AppAlive captures current images of applications, stores them and provides customers with a hosted recovery environment for virtualized applications.
Tom Frangione, Simply Continuous' CEO, says mid-market customers are facing a "recovery gap."
"Large enterprises have the skills and resources to set up a second data center and deliver recovery services themselves. On the lower end, small businesses are avoiding tape altogether and that's where the Mozys of the world come in," says Frangione. "Mid-market customers have large data sets to manage, but we don't foresee many of them adding additional resources to manage those data sets. They are caught in the middle."
Simply Continuous is backed by $10 million in funding from Greylock Partners and already has a big partner in its pocket. Last fall, the company announced a partnership with Data Domain under which Simply Continuous offers an offsite data protection service called Data Protect Vault for Data Domain.
Simply Continuous uses Data Domain's deduplication storage systems to replicate data offsite. In the event of an outage, customers can recover individual files remotely or, in the event of a site disaster, request a replacement Data Domain appliance to be shipped to the recovery site.
Source
Monday, July 20, 2009
Oil prices higher after US data
LONDON (AFP) — Oil prices gained ground on Thursday as the market digested the latest stockpiles data in leading consumer the United States which traders said was supportive overall.
The price of London's Brent North Sea crude for August delivery rose 41 cents to 68.74 dollars per barrel.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for August, gained 33 cents to 69.00 dollars.
"It's all about gasoline (petrol) at the moment," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
The US Department of Energy said Wednesday that inventories of gasoline jumped 3.9 million barrels in the week ending June 19, compared to expectations for a gain of one million barrels.
Crude stockpiles, however, dropped by 3.8 million barrels, steeper than the 1.3 million barrels expected by most analysts.
"A mixed enough report but somewhat supportive for crude," Kryuchenkov noted, adding: "We are still pleased to see stable gasoline demand."
Oil also got support on the back of a weaker US currency, which makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies and therefore tends to stimulate demand and push prices higher.
Conflicting signals about the strength of a recovery for the global economy have led to volatile swings in oil prices recently, with some analysts saying they have risen too fast while underlying demand is weak.
Crude oil plunged from record peaks of more than 147 dollars in July 2008 to about 32 dollars in December as the economic downturn hit but the market has since won back some ground on recovery hopes.
Source
The price of London's Brent North Sea crude for August delivery rose 41 cents to 68.74 dollars per barrel.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for August, gained 33 cents to 69.00 dollars.
"It's all about gasoline (petrol) at the moment," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
The US Department of Energy said Wednesday that inventories of gasoline jumped 3.9 million barrels in the week ending June 19, compared to expectations for a gain of one million barrels.
Crude stockpiles, however, dropped by 3.8 million barrels, steeper than the 1.3 million barrels expected by most analysts.
"A mixed enough report but somewhat supportive for crude," Kryuchenkov noted, adding: "We are still pleased to see stable gasoline demand."
Oil also got support on the back of a weaker US currency, which makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies and therefore tends to stimulate demand and push prices higher.
Conflicting signals about the strength of a recovery for the global economy have led to volatile swings in oil prices recently, with some analysts saying they have risen too fast while underlying demand is weak.
Crude oil plunged from record peaks of more than 147 dollars in July 2008 to about 32 dollars in December as the economic downturn hit but the market has since won back some ground on recovery hopes.
Source
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