Oil rises for first time in seven days

TOKYO (Reuters) - Crude oil prices rose in early Asian trade for the first time in seven days after a small decline in stockpiles at the U.S. Cushing hub overrode concerns about the impact of Britain's possible exit from the European Union.

Brent crude futures were up 25 cents at $47.44 a barrel at 0040 GMT. On Thursday, the contract fell 3.6 percent to $47.19 per barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 17 cents at $46.38. The previous session, the contract declined 3.8 percent to $46.21 a barrel.

Market intelligence firm Genscape on Thursday reported a weekly decline of 76,317 barrels in stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for WTI futures, traders who saw the data said. In the previous week, Genscape reported a drawdown of 299,058 barrels at Cushing.

 

The British pound rose from a two-month low after campaigning for next week's so-called Brexit vote was suspended following the murder on Thursday of a U.K. member of parliament, who was a vocal advocate for Britain to stay in the European Union.

Commodities across the board also posted gains, while equity benchmarks including Japan's Nikkei stock average rose.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Ed Davies)