Oil edges up as China seeks to calm economic fears
By Natalie Grover
LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices crept up on Thursday after China's central bank sought to stem the rising tide of pessimism over the country's property market and wider economy.
Prices had fallen for the previous session on simmering worries over the impact on fuel demand from a deepening property crisis that is stifling momentum in China's economy and the potential for further increases to U.S. interest rates.
Brent crude futures rose 67 cents to $84.12 a barrel by 1058 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was up 63 cents at $80.01.
«Oil traders like the fact that China isn’t going to tolerate weakness in economic activity,» said Naeem Aslam at Zaye Capital Markets after China's central bank said that it will adjust and optimise property policies in a timely manner.
Interest rates also remain in focus, with minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's July meeting released on Wednesday. The minutes showed the central bank's officials did not give strong indications about pausing rate hikes in an effort to prioritise the battle against inflation.
Higher interest rates increase borrowing costs for businesses and consumers, which could slow economic growth and reduce oil demand.
«Crude prices are going to struggle here as we have bearish sentiment in the world's two largest economies,» said OANDA analyst Edward Moya.
On a more bullish note, China made a rare draw on crude oil inventories in July, the first time in 33 months that it had dipped into storage.
Data released on Wednesday showed that {{8849|U.S. crcrude oil inventories fell by nearly 6 million barrels last week on strong exports and refining run rates. [EIA/S]
If the market had received that data in friendlier macroeconomic climes, the
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