Recovery after oil crash

Oil rose after posting its biggest loss in five weeks as investors considered moving away from riskier assets amid signs of a tighter global crude market, including a record drop in U.S. inventories. U.S. crude rose to $80 a barrel after falling 2.3 percent on Wednesday as Treasury yields surged and the U.S. dollar hurt stocks and commodities. The sell-off came even as data showed U.S. crude inventories fell by more than 17 million barrels on Wednesday, the biggest decline ever in terms of volume. Inventories at the hub in Cushing shrank for a fifth week. “While this was the biggest decline ever in terms of volume, it was seen as an anomaly because of the adjustment factors used by the EIA. Still, it highlights the tightness in the market that has emerged amid falling OPEC production,” analysts at ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. said, citing the Energy Information Administration. Crude oil rose last month as U.S. crude erased year-to-date losses after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies cut production. The rise pushed prices to their highest level since April and raised concerns about a pullback after such a rapid rise. Wednesday’s decline follows Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of U.S. credit ratings that hurt broader market sentiment.