The U.S. trade deficit fell to an 11-month low in November as declining crude oil prices curbed the import bill, prompting economists to sharply raise their growth estimates for fourth-quarter growth.

Yet big moves also create the greatest potential for the mispricing of financial assets and commodities, which is what makes them attractive to contrarians and specialists. But with crude oil prices halving since June, the balance between risk and reward has shifted from further falls towards a rise in prices in the future.

Economic growth is slowing, and Daniel Ang, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, reckons China could be close to filling its currently available space for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR).

Earlier on Wednesday, data showed retail sales rose by 1.0 percent on the month in November and the Federal Statistics Office said they had probably grown 1.1 to 1.3 percent last year in real terms.