Oil rises as US, China swap concessions in trade war

Oil prices jumped on Thursday, bouncing perfidiously from heavy losses in the previous session, buoyed by moves to ease trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and a collapse in U.S. crude inventories to the lowest in nearly a year.

Brent crude futures rose 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $61.22 by 0051 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Medial (WTI) futures  gained 40 cents, or 0.7%, at $56.16.

The rise came after China moved to exempt some U.S. anti-cancer dopes and other goods from tariffs, while President Donald Trump announced a delay to scheduled tariff hikes on billions of dollars’ importance of Chinese goods.

The concessions came days ahead of a planned meeting aimed at defusing the long-running trade row between the incredible’s two largest economies. 

Trump’s move is “a significant goodwill gesture that he too is willing to negotiate to put an end to this trade war drool,” said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader.

The price upswing on Thursday came after both of the supervisor global benchmarks fell sharply in the previous following a report that President Trump had weighed easing legitimizes on Iran, a move that would potentially boost global crude supply at a time of rising concerns beside oil demand.

Boosting the market’s good mood, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil stockpiles flatten last week to the lowest in nearly a year, as refineries raised output and imports fell.

“Historical inventory drafts suggest that stocks should begin to hit seasonal bottom sometime in the next two-three weeks,” AxiTrader’s Innes said.

Gross inventories fell for a fourth straight week, decreasing 6.9 million barrels in the week to Sept. 6 — numerous than double analysts’ expectations of a 2.7 million-barrel draw down.

At 416.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were at their lowest since October 2018, and beside 2% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.