Oil Trades Near 3-Day High as Refineries Resume

Oil traded near a three-day high in New York as China’s manufacturing expanded for the first month since July and as U.S. East Coast refineries resumed operations in the wake of superstorm Sandy, boosting crude use.

West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed after closing 0.7 percent higher yesterday. China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.2 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today, adding to signs of growth in the world’s second-biggest crude user. U.S. East Coast refineries accounting for 76 percent of the capacity that was halted or curtailed in Sandy’s path have restored operations or were in the process of doing so as of yesterday.