NEW DELHI: Asia’s gasoline crack paused its two-day rally on Thursday, but hovered near record levels after inventories at the key trading hub of Singapore declined.

The refining profit margin for gasoline slipped to $36.85 a barrel, from $37.98 a barrel on Wednesday.

Singapore stocks of light distillates dropped by 600,000 barrels to a two-week low of 15.212 million barrels in the week to June 22, government data showed.

US gasoline stocks, on the other hand, rose by 1.2 million barrels, market sources told Reuters, compared with an expectation of a fall by about 500,000 barrels in a Reuters poll.