Oil prices rose on Thursday ahead of weekly U.S. stocks data, despite fresh signs of an economic slowdown in China and Japan.
Crude prices have fallen more than 3 percent this week on persistent worries over global demand and a supply glut.
Benchmark crude futures nevertheless posted modest gains ahead of the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) oil stocks report at 1500 GMT, which is expected to show a rise, according to a Reuters survey.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 15 cents to $47.73 per barrel by 1340 GMT. U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 30 cents at $44.45 a barrel.
“A lot of this rally will be profit-taking ahead of the DoE numbers,” said Hamza Khan, commodities analyst at Netherlands-based ING Financial Markets.
“The stage is set for a recovery but as long as we keep getting disappointing numbers out of China it will weigh and delay a recovery,” Khan said.
Japan’s core machinery orders fell 3.6 percent in July, data showed on Thursday, much worse than a 3.7 percent increase expected by economists.
via Reuters
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