Oil prices edged up in Asian trade today, staying above $80 as traders were lifted by buoyant market sentiment, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, gained 16 cents to $81.50 a barrel after surging past the $80 mark in US trade late yesterday.
Brent North Sea crude for September delivery advanced 16 cents to $80.98.
Traders were cheered after crude prices finally broke through the stubborn $80 price level late Monday, said Clarence Chu, an oil trader with Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.
"$80 was a strong resistance level... The way we broke through 80, it seems market sentiment is a bit bullish," he told AFP.
Chu added that the $80 price level would now support oil prices.
"Typically, if we break through a strong resistance level, that level will become a support level," Chu added.
Crude prices continued their rally from yesterday as Wall Street soared following news that the US manufacturing sector expanded for a 12th straight month in July.
The Institute of Supply Management July manufacturing index fell to 55.5 points from 56.2 per cent in June, but this was well above market estimates for 54.2 per cent. A reading above 50 indicates an expanding manufacturing sector.
However, Chu warned that weekly US crude inventory numbers issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) had the potential to derail the recent rally.
"All eyes are on the EIA numbers, that could really change the game," he said.
