Global benchmark Brent crude oil futures traded 80 cents or 0.9%
higher at $87.80 a barrel by 0847 GMT, while U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crude futures also gained 71 cents or 0.9% to
$82.61 a barrel.
Data showed that overall business activity in the eurozone
expanded at its fastest pace in nearly a year this month, led by
a buoyant recovery in the bloc's dominant service industry.
Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index hit a record high on Tuesday.
[.EU]
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers agreed in principle on Monday to
expand sanctions on Iran following Tehran's missile and drone
attack on Israel this month.
The U.S. Senate is set to begin considering a foreign aid
package that includes sanctions on Iran's oil exports that
target ships, ports, and refineries that process Iranian oil.
"The geopolitical backdrop is still very fraught with so many
risks at the moment, so clearly we're going to see a lot of
volatility until there's a lot more clarity around it," ANZ
analysts said in a podcast.
Iran and Israel going beyond "gestural sovereign attacks ...
risks the ire of a U.S. that right now has its own political
reasons for letting Iranian oil get to water," said John Evans
at oil broker PVM.
"Given an incident free week from Israel and Iran, oil watchers
will have to look to the wider macro this week."
Investors are waiting for the release of the U.S. gross domestic
product figures and the March personal consumption expenditure
data - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - later this week to
assess the trajectory of monetary policy.
U.S. crude oil inventories are expected to have increased last
week while refined product stockpiles likely fell, according to
a preliminary Reuters poll of analysts.
(Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru, Mohi Narayan in New Delhi
and Shariq Khan in New York; Editing by Jamie Freed, Gerry Doyle
and Louise Heavens)
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