Crude oil futures rose to a two-week high on Wednesday as central banks across the globe took action to lower borrowing costs.

Crude oil for January delivery advanced 57 cents to settle at $100.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

However Brent crude for January delivery settled 30 cents lower at $110.52 a barrel.

The US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank all agreed to lower the pricing on existing temporary US dollar liquidity swap arrangements by 50 basis points.

In a separate move, China also agreed to free up money for its banking system.

Hopes of improved liquidity in the global financial system boosted demand for commodities across the board. Demand was also spurred by more upbeat US data and as China reduced the level of reserves it holds for banks.

Weekly US stockpile data put a slight damper on crude's rally after the Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories climbed 3.9m barrels in the week ended 25 November. Analysts had pencilled in an increase of 1.5m.

Gasoline supplies rose 200,000 barrels, compared to forecasts of a 1.5m increase, the EIA said. Distillates rose 5.5m instead of a predicted decline of 1.5m.

Among precious metals gold rallied to a two week high after the central bank coordinated action to provide additional liquidity available to the global financial system.

Bullion for December delivery settled up $32.10 at $1,745.50 an ounce, the best settlement since mid November.







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