Oil was mixed in Asia on Wednesday as traders took a breather after strong economic data from the United States pushed prices to a five-week high, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, dropped 12 cents to $96.22 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for May delivery gained two cents to $109.38. Prices touched their highest point in five weeks on Tuesday, helped by firm US economic data. “Oil is holding firm with quiet trading,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, said. “Traders are happy to leave prices where they are and wait for further news such as inventory figures from the United States.” US home prices crept higher in January, a 20-city index showed Tuesday, and new orders for durable goods in the United States surged 5.7 percent in February, driven by a sharp rise in civilian aircraft sales. Positive US economic numbers continue “to be a white knight within the unpredictable global economy,” IG Markets Singapore said in a report. “No region is more volatile than the eurozone, and it has done its best to dent confidence in an economic recovery this year,” it added. Worries over the eurozone remained after Cyprus warned that “superhuman” efforts were needed to reopen its banks by Thursday. The island this week averted a collapse of its banking system after reaching an 11th-hour financial bailout with its creditors.
