NYMEX December crude carries overnight gains into Asia trade

               Crude oil prices held onto overnight gains in early Asia trade on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Nominee Janet Yellen told lawmakers that monetary stimulus tools shouldn't be removed too soon in order to ensure recovery doesn't falter.

Stimulus tools such as the Fed's USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases weaken the greenback by driving down interest rates to spur recovery, making oil an attractive buy on dollar-denominated exchanges.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD94.04, up 0.29%, in a range of 93.83 - 94.09.

The commodity hit a session low of USD92.53 and a high of USD94.42. The December contract settled up 0.90% at USD93.88 a barrel on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported earlier that crude oil inventories last week rose by 2.6 million barrels, far more than the 994,000 barrels predicted by analysts.

Despite the bearish supply report, oil rose on expectations for ongoing monetary support, likely on increased refinery capacity and drawdowns of heating oil and gasoline stocks. -  investing.com