Oil Market Update

Oil rebounded on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing streak and gaining the most in one day in two and a half years.

Futures traded higher through a surprise increase in weekly inventories and a trouncing in U.S. equities, driven by surprise weakness in December retail sales. Gasoline and natural-gas futures also rallied.

Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February CLG5, -0.85%   gained $2.59, or 5.6%, to settle at $48.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the largest one-day percentage gain since June 29, 2012.

February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange LCOG5, -1.11%  rose $2.10, or 4.5%, to finish at $48.69 a barrel.