Oil prices rise amid optimism over vaccine

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday in response to positive news about a coronavirus vaccine candidate.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for December delivery rose 1.07 U.S. dollars to settle at 41.36 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery increased 1.21 dollars to close at 43.61 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The moves followed a massive rally on Monday on the oil market that saw the WTI and Brent skyrocket 8.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.

"Considerable investor optimism was without doubt the main driving factor in this" following the news about promising progress on developing a COVID-19 vaccine, Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Tuesday.

"There is little in the way of fundamental factors to support any more pronounced upswing," as the pandemic continues to cast its shadow, he added.