NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Thursday as a new wave of coronavirus cases in Europe led several countries to reimpose travel restrictions, offsetting a bullish drop in U.S. crude and fuel inventories.
Brent crude rose 53 cents, or 1.3%, to $42.25 a barrel by 10:54 a.m. EDT (1454 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 55 cents, or 1.4%, to $40.35 a barrel
Crude oil followed other equities and commodities markets in turning risk-averse on Monday as rising Covid-19 infection rates in Europe and other countries prompted renewed lockdown measures
Brent crude was up $1.50, or 3.4 per cent, at $45.93 a barrel
Inventories of crude oil in the US dropped by 6.8 million barrels last week to 531 million barrels, data showed
Industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) reported US crude inventories rose last week by 7.5 million barrels compared with expectations for a draw of 2.1 million
Brent crude futures were up 10 cents, or 0.2%, at $43 a barrel as of 0049 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crudefutures rose 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $40.43 a barrel
Oil prices eased in early trade on Wednesday as industry data showed a build in US crude stockpiles and a forecast for US crude output to fall less than anticipated in 2020
Brent crude rose 80 cents, or 1.9 per cent
Investors are waiting to see if the producers, known as OPEC+, extend their record cut beyond July
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $2.46 or 8.4% at $31.89 per barrel, its highest since mid-March
US crude up 19.7% in the week, Brent adds 5.2 per% after a week of bullish news. Both contracts gain for third straight week
Signalling a slow recovery in demand, data from the Energy Information Administration showed US crude and distillate inventories rose last week.
In the earnings department, a total of seven companies including Britannia, Bharti Infratel, and Hathway Cable are scheduled to announce their March quarter results today
The crash in futures may not benefit India
The benchmark indices ended over 3 per cent lower on Tuesday amid collapse in crude oil prices and weak global markets
All that happened in the markets today
Trump talked about suspending immigration visas, and the H-1B visa, which is more popular among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa
Today, a total of seven companies, including ACC, CRISIL, Den Networks, and ICICI Prudential Life are scheduled to release their March quarter earnings
The May US WTI contract fell $55.9, or 306 per cent, to settle at a discount of $37.63 a barrel after touching an all-time low of -$40.32 a barrel