Oil rebounds in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices climbed in Asian trade Tuesday, lifted by the equities markets, which rebounded from sharp falls the previous day on concerns over the fallout from fraud charges against Goldman Sachs.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, was up 60 cents to 82.05 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for June rose 52 cents to 84.75 dollars per barrel.

"The sell-off that happened in the markets due to the Goldman charges was quite overdone," said Clarence Chu, an oil trader with Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.

Oil prices declined Monday after the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit against the Wall Street financial giant.

It accused Goldman of "defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts" about a financial product based on subprime mortgage-backed securities.

The securities were a key contributor to the global financial crisis that peaked in 2008 because many contained risky mortgages.

Chu said rebounding stock markets were pulling oil prices along with them.

Stock markets in Tokyo and Hong Kong were higher Tuesday, with the headline Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange finishing the morning session up 46.24 points at 10,955.01.

Hong Kong shares were 0.71 percent higher in early trade, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 152.36 points at 21,557.53

However, oil prices still had some way to fall and could see a drop this week as a supply backlog and slow demand weighed on the market, Chu told AFP.