Crude oil price soared to 3-month high of 49.82 Tuesday after better-than-expected housing data in the US. The benchmark futures eventually settled at 49.16, gained 3.8%. In Asian Wednesday, the rally eases and is currently consolidating at 48.5 level.

The Commerce Department reported that the number of new houses under construction rose 22.2% in February to 0.58M units, compared with market expectation of a drop to 0.45M units. Moreover, building permits in February also gained 3% to 0.54M, against consensus of a decline to 0.51M, from 0.53M in January. Although these wee only one-month data and could not confirm the economy has bottomed, investors' sentiment turned positive in recent days.

The US Energy Department will release the petroleum report. The market forecast crude stockpiles rose 1.5 mmb for the week ended Mar 13. Inventory for gasoline and distillate probably reduced 1.5 mmb and gained 1 mmb, respectively. According to API, crude stockpiles gained 4.66 mmb to 349.9mmb last week, the highest since Jun 2007.

The World Bank said that China's economy has shown signs of stabilizing. Although downwardly revised the nation's 2009 GDP growth forecast to 6.5%, the World Bank stated that China has weathered the current economic crisis better than many other countries as it 'does not rely on external financing, its banks have been largely unscathed by the international financial turmoil and it has the fiscal and macroeconomic space to implement forceful stimulus measures'. Also, the nation's fundamentals 'are strong enough to allow policymakers to consider policies that will affect the economy well beyond 2009'.

Outlook in China is crucial for the world's economy. Not only is it the world's third largest economy, it's the second largest consumer in oil. According to OPEC's monthly report in March, world oil demand growth is forecast to be -1M bpd with negative growth across all regions except for the Middle East and China. Moreover, China is the second biggest trading partner with Japan. Every year, Japan contributes 13-14% of total import in China. Therefore, recovery in China would boost economies in other countries.

Gold price for April delivery retreats for the 3rd consecutive day Wednesday as investors' risk appetite increase. Currently trading at 911.8, the precious metal will likely be outshone by advance in stock markets in the near term. On the other hand, platinum rebounds slightly to 1057 after falling to 1046.5 yesterday. Signs of recovery in US' housing market spur speculation that demand for the white metal will increase. At the same time, Obama's administration indicated that it's 'open-minded' about giving more aids to automakers in the nations also rekindled investors' hope in the industry.