Brent jumps over 4% after Moderna announces impressive vaccine results

Brent crude continued to rise on Monday, jumping more than 4% while on the cusp of the first daily gain in 4 days, after news about Moderna's candidate Covid-19 vaccine, and hopes about oil demand in Asia, after strong data about refining in China and the Japanese GDP, in addition to the OPEC-Plus collation's record compliance with the global output cut agreement.

Brent rose 4.2% to $44.50 a barrel, after opening at $42.70, and hit a low of $42.70. 

Brent crude futures fell 1.5% on Friday, posting the third straight daily loss, on profit-taking from a 2-month high of $45.28 a barrel.

Oil prices gained around 7.5% last week, posting the third straight weekly gain, thanks to positive news about Covid-19 vaccines.

The American company Moderna announced on Monday that initial data from the phase of the clinical trials showed that its coronavirus vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing the disease.

Data showed that Chinese refineries processed the most crude ever in October on a daily basis, a positive sign of demand in the world's second largest consumer of oil.

The Japanese GDP grew more than expected during the third quarter, indicating that the world's third largest economy is recovering quickly from the coronavirus impact.

OPEC-Plus will hold a ministerial committee meeting on Tuesday, to discuss new developments in the market, and to review members' compliance with implementing their cuts shares.

News agencies quoted informed sources that the coalition's compliance rate with the global output cut agreement reached 101% in October.

The coalition is set to hold a ministerial meeting on November 30 and December 1, amid strong odds for delaying the planned increase in output that is scheduled next January.

OPEC-Plus is currently implementing the second phase of the cut agreement, cutting about 7.7 million bpd until the end of December, and will be lowered to 5.7 million bpd in phase three, starting from January 2021 until April 2022.