Prices of oil futures jumped more than 2 percent, as oil workers strike in Kuwait almost halved the volume of production in the country, and overshadowed the bearish sentiment.

Thousands of Kuwaiti oil strike a third day to protest against planned pay reform the public sector. Against this background, oil production fell to 1.5 million. Barrels per day, compared with an average of 2.8 million in March. Barrels per day.

"Kuwait supports the strike price of oil," - said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at PVM Oil Associates. At the same time, analysts expect that production will fall short again, and soon, investors will focus on an excess supply on world markets.

"In the coming days, oil production in Kuwait may partially recover due to reallocation of workers to strike is not published, and the use of reserves, which will help to avoid force majeure with loading" - believe experts of Eurasia Group.

Recall, on Sunday, the leading oil producers meeting ended without result: the countries did not manage to come to an agreement regarding the extraction of raw materials freezing. Meanwhile, today the Deputy Minister of oil Javadi Iran said that Iran's oil production may reach dosanktsionnyh levels within two months. Iran has refused to freeze production at the level of January, and wants to return to the level of 4 million barrels per day, on which production was up to the imposition of sanctions.

In the course of trade is also affected by expectations the publication of the American Petroleum Institute (API) oil reserves. If the API reported a significant fall of stocks, oil prices could rise even more. On Wednesday, the US Department of Energy was to publish official data on stocks.

WTI for delivery in May rose to $42.48 a barrel. Brent for May rose to $44.26 a barrel.

Gold prices rose nearly 2 percent by updating the April, which was caused by the widespread weakening of the US dollar after the release of weak housing data.

"One of the reasons for today's dynamics is the weakening of the dollar. Another reason is that strong demand for silver in Shanghai also has caused the growth of gold purchases, "- said the expert of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers Ronald Leung.

The Commerce Department said that the establishment of new homes in the US fell more than expected in March, while the number of building permits reached a one-year low, suggesting a cooling of the housing market. Bookmarks new homes fell by 8.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate reached 1.09 million units, the lowest level since October. February data were revised to a level of 1.19 million units, compared with earlier estimates of 1.18 million units. Economists had forecast that the bookmarks of new homes will fall to 1170 thousand. Units last month. The fall in the last month pointed to a slowdown in the property market. Nevertheless, the fundamental indicators of the housing market remain strong amid growing labor market. Last month, bookmarks single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, fell by 9.2 percent to 764,000 units, the lowest since October. Building permits fell 7.7 percent to 1.09 million units last month, the lowest level since March last year.

World stocks rose on Tuesday, but it did not dampen the demand for gold, which is often seen as a hedge against risk.

Traders are also watching the comments of officials of the Federal Reserve System, to assess the prospects for US monetary policy. Earlier today the President of the New York Fed, William Dudley said that the economic conditions in the US, "mainly favorable," but the Fed should be cautious when raising interest rates. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, however, said the Fed could raise rates faster than currently expected by investors. "Gold is likely to continue to rise in price in the second quarter, because the dollar will remain relatively weak due to the revision of the expectations of the Fed raising interest rates," - said an analyst at Mitsubishi Corp Jonathan Butler.

Meanwhile, today, China - the largest consumer of gold - will launch its light gold prices in an attempt to gain more control over pricing and enhance the impact on the market

The cost of the June gold futures on the COMEX today rose $ 20.6 to $ 1255.7 per ounce.

Kuwait's crude output dropped to 1.1 million barrels a day on Sunday, down from 2.8 million barrels a day in March due to the strike in the oil sector. The strike is open-ended.

A spokesman for Kuwait's oil ministry said on Tuesday that the oil output rose to 1.5 million barrels a day on today. The oil output still below the output for March.

Iran's oil deputy minister Rokneddin Javadi said on Tuesday that the country's oil output would reach 4 million barrels a day level in June.

(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Oil 40.05+0.68%

Gold 1,235.00 0.00%