Brent crude futures for November rose by 16 cents, or 0.21%, to $74.65 a barrel and U.S. crude futures for November were up 21 cents, or 0.30%, at $71.21
Oil prices rose slightly in choppy trade on Monday after last week’s cut to U.S. interest rates and a drop in U.S. crude supply in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine countered weaker demand from top oil importer China.
Brent crude futures for November rose by 16 cents, or 0.21%, to $74.65 a barrel by 1011 GMT. U.S. crude futures for November were up 21 cents, or 0.30%, at $71.21.
Oil prices were buoyed last week by the U.S. Fed’s decision to reduce interest rates by 50 bps and signal further cuts by end of the year, though weaker demand from China is limiting the upside, according to Charalampos Pissouros, senior investment analyst at brokerage XM.
Both oil benchmarks gained more than 4% last week.
Oil looks rangebound despite the uplift to risky asset prices from an outsized policy rate cut by the Fed last week, according to Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group.
The market will look to flash PMI releases in Europe and the U.S. for economic direction, and if these disappoint, then there is likely to be downward pressure developing on oil prices, Tchilinguirian said.
Euro zone business activity declined sharply and unexpectedly this month as the bloc’s dominant services industry flatlined while a downturn in manufacturing accelerated, a survey showed on Monday.
A weaker economic outlook from top consumer China capped further gains.
There was some hope earlier this morning that some additional Chinese monetary stimulus is likely in the short term, but the latest PMI out of Europe switched market sentiment from positive to negative, according to UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
I would expect oil to benefit this week from a large U.S. crude draw as result of elevated U.S. crude exports, he said.
