Oil prices continued to rise as the US market opened on Thursday, and jumped more than 2% to head for the third straight daily gain, and hit a 6-week high on upbeat expectations of global oil demand which offset concerns over the Indian Covid-19 crisis, in addition to unexpected build in the US crude inventories.

US crude rose 2.4% to its highest level since March 17 at $65.18 a barrel, after opening at $63.68, and hit a high at $63.67, and Brent crude rose 2.3% to the highest since March 17 at $68.69 a barrel, after opening at $67.12, and hit a high of $67.12.

US crude gained 0.9% yesterday, and Brent crude futures rose 0.6% and posted the second consecutive daily gain, as most dollar-denominated commodities rose following the end of the Federal Reserve meeting.

Citibank analysts projected that vaccination campaigns in North America and Europe will increase global demand for oil to a record high of 101.5 million barrels per day this summer.

The coronavirus crisis in India is still escalating despite local and global efforts to contain it before spreading more widely in neighboring countries, and the authorities have tightened lockdown measures in most parts of the country, which weighs down on fuel consumption in the world's third largest oil importer.

The Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that the US crude inventories rose 100K barrels during the week ending April 23, while analysts forecasts a drop by 0.9 million barrels.

The US production fell 100K barrels last week, with a total of 10.9 million barrels per day.

Silver futures closed lower on Wednesday, as the US dollar held against most of its peers.

The US Federal Reserve kept the interest rate unchanged near zero and decided to keep the $120 billion per month asset purchasing program.

The US Goods Trade Balance index showed a deficit of $90.58 billion last month, which is the highest monthly level ever.

The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by less than 0.1% to 90.8 points as of 19:28 GMT, after it hit a high of 91.1 points and a low of 90.7 points.

Silver May futures fell 1.2% or 32 cents, and closed at $26.09 an ounce, and silver July futures fell 1.3% or 33 cents, and closed at $26.12 an ounce.

US stock indices fell on Wednesday, as Wall Street came under pressure following the Federal Reserve's statement.

The US Federal Reserve kept the interest rate unchanged near zero and decided to keep the $120 billion per month asset purchasing program.

The Fed stated that progress is being made in distributing the Covid-19 vaccines and in financial and monetary policies, which was reflected on economic indicators, especially employment that has been rising during the past 6 weeks.

The central bank noted improvement in the most impacted sectors by the pandemic, but added that the ongoing health crisis continues to weigh on the economy.

The Fed Governor Jerome Powell stated during a press conference that he rules out starting to reduce the $120 billion asset purchasing program, as he sees that the labor market and the inflation rate will not deviate from the Fed's target.

The US Goods Trade Balance index showed a deficit of $90.58 billion last month, which is the highest monthly level ever.

To the oil market, WTI crude June futures rose 1.5% or 92 cents, and closed at $63.86 a barrel, after hitting a day high of $64.5 and a low of $62.5.

Brent June futures rose 1.3% or 85 cents, and closed at $67.27 a barrel, after hitting a high of $67.8 and a low of $66.1.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.5% or 164 points, and closed at 33,820, with a day high of 33,946, and a low of 33,805.

Nasdaq fell 0.3% or 39 points to 14,051, with a high of 14,133 and a low of 14,034 points.

S&P 500 fell 0.1% or 3 points to 4,183, after hitting a high of 4,201 and a low of 4,181.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, as the US dollar held against its counterparts, and despite an unexpected increase in US crude inventories.

The OPEC-Plus coalition decided on Wednesday to proceed with the gradual increase of oil production that was approved during the last meeting in early April.

Starting next May, the decision includes a hike of 1.15 million barrels per day distributed over 3 months.

The US Energy Information Administration reported today that crude inventories rose 100K barrels to 493.1 million during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 200K barrels.

The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by less than 0.1% to 90.8 points as of 17:13 GMT, after it hit a high of 91.1 points and a low of 90.7 points.

As of 17:12 GMT, WTI crude December futures rose 1.9% to $64.1 a barrel, after hitting a high of $64.5 and a low of $62.5.

Brent January futures rose 1.7% to $67.5 a barrel, after hitting a high of $67.8 and a low of $66.1.