2020.03.1919:18:00UTC+00Oil Logs Biggest Single-session Gain After Central Banks' Stimulus

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Thursday, earning the front month futures contracts their biggest single-day gains in percentage terms, as worries about outlook of energy demand subsided a bit thanks to massive relief packages announced by global central banks and governments.

Also, traders created some fresh long positions in the contracts following the steep fall in the previous session that sent prices crashing down to over 18-year lows.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended up $4.85, or 23.8%, at $25.22 a barrel.

Brent crude futures surged up $3.59, or about 14.4%, to $28.47 a barrel.

On Wednesday, WTI crude oil futures had tumbled to an intraday low of $20.06 a barrel, before finishing at $20.37 a barrel, losing about 24%.

The European Central Bank (ECB) on Wednesday announced the launch of a ?750 billion ($820 billion) emergency bond purchase scheme, but said the so-called Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program is temporary and will be halted when the coronavirus crisis is judged to be over.

Media reports suggest that Japan is considering an economic package worth more than 30 trillion yen (239.83 billion pounds) to combat the widening fallout from the virus outbreak.

The Australian Central Bank lowered its interest rate to 0.25 percent - it's lowest ever as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to drag the country into its first recession since the early 1990s.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation on Wednesday providing billions of dollars to limit the damage from the coronavirus pandemic through free testing, paid sick leave and expanded safety-net spending.

The Bank of England cut the bank rate by 15 basis points to a record low of 0.1% on Thursday, and expanded its bond buying scheme and the targeted funding measure for small and medium businesses, extending further support to the UK economy amid the spread of the coronavirus, or Covid-19.

It also decided on Thursday to enlarge the Term Funding for SME scheme.

In a special meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to increase the Bank of England's holdings of UK government bonds and sterling non-financial investment-grade corporate bonds by GBP 200 billion to a total of GBP 645 billion, the bank said.

Meanwhile, Russia said it would like to see oil prices improve. Bloomberg quoted Russian President Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov as saying that Russia wants to see higher prices, but the country has not yet reached out to OPEC to discuss measures.