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| - Oil prices extended their rally Wednesday on growing expectations for demand as the global economy recovers, while equities rose in Europe and the United States. While some countries are still struggling with the coronavirus, the general mood among dealers is upbeat with the global economy rebounding sufficiently strongly as vaccines are rolled out and parts of the planet slowly return to a semblance of normality. And one of the biggest beneficiaries of that is the crude market, with demand for the commodity picking up as people begin travelling again and factories restart. Both main contracts have rocketed from the dark days of April last year -- when they crashed in reaction to the imposition of lockdowns around the world -- helped by top producers slashing output. But with the world recovery now on track, the 23 nations of the so-called OPEC+ oil producers' group are confident that demand will increase enough for them to open the taps further. On Tuesday, OPEC+ agreed to continue lifting output in July, having started slowly doing so in early May. "The demand picture has shown clear signs of improvement," said Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said: "We see that demand has increased, that prices have stabilised," and spoke of a "normalisation" of the global economy. That came after the International Energy Agency said the second half of the year could see a gap between demand and supplies, which could push prices even higher. However, the group gave little away about plans for August and its views on the possibility of Iranian oil coming back to the market if Tehran seals a nuclear deal with world powers that will lift sanctions on the country. WTI on Tuesday rose to $68.87 -- its highest level since October 2018 -- while Brent peaked at $71.34, before they pared gains. They continued to climb Wednesday and observers suggest they could break even higher. "Unless a breakthrough comes out of Tehran and a timetable is set for sanction relief, oil prices seemed destined to continue to climb higher," Oanda analyst Edward Moya said. The bump in oil has given a fillip to energy firms, though broader markets in Asia struggled to build on recent gains. Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei and Jakarta all rose, with Manila surging more than three percent on reports the government plans to ease some containment measures. However, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok and Wellington dipped. In Europe, London, Paris and Frankfurt all rose, with the CAC 40 in Paris hitting its highest closing level this year. Wall Street pushed higher, with the Dow gaining 0.3 percent, as investors look forward to the release of May jobs creation data on Friday, having been massively disappointed by April's reading. "We're in a bit of a holding pattern, where the major indices remain just below all-time highs but the momentum hasn't been there for a test of those levels," TD Ameritrade market strategist JJ Kinahan said in a trading note. "It's understandable, really, when you consider the possible ramifications of the data coming up not just this week with jobs but next week with May consumer prices," he added. Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.1 percent at $71.00 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $68.47 per barrel New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 34,683.09 points EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 4,085.83 London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,108.00 (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.2 percent at 15,602.71 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 6,521.52 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 28,946.14 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 29,297.62 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,597.14 (close) Pound/dollar: UP at $1.4179 from $1.4150 at 2100 GMT Euro/dollar: UP at $1.2214 from $1.2213 Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.14 pence from 86.31 pence Dollar/yen: UP at 109.61 yen from 109.48 yen burs-rl/wai
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