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Brent crude futures slipped 42 cents or 0.5% to $82.54 a barrel
by 1010 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures
inched down 36 cents or 0.4% to $78.77 a barrel.
Markets were bracing for a risk that the U.S. Federal Reserve
could delay its first interest rate cut to the second half of
this year in a boost to the U.S. dollar, according to a Reuters
poll of foreign exchange strategists,
A strong greenback dents demand for dollar-denominated oil among
buyers using other currencies.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday continued progress on
inflation "is not assured", though the U.S. central bank still
expects to reduce its benchmark interest rate this year.
Meanwhile, China's import and export growth beat estimates,
suggesting global trade is turning a corner in a positive signal
for policymakers as they try to shore up economic recovery.
China posted a 5.1% rise in imports in the first two months of
2024 from a year earlier to about 10.74 million barrels per day
(bpd), customs data showed on Thursday, as crude purchases
ramped up to meet fuel sales during the Lunar New Year holiday.
"China's trade balance data is a positive sign for the oil
market’s demand outlook," Auckland-based independent analyst
Tina Teng said.
However, she added that risk-off sentiment dominated financial
markets as stocks are retreating on Wall Street.
Brent and WTI edged up about 1% on Wednesday after crude
inventories rose for a sixth week in a row, building by 1.4
million barrels, about two-thirds of the 2.1 million-barrel rise
analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll.
Gasoline and distillate stocks fell more than expected, the EIA
data also showed.
(Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Arathy
Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Tom Hogue, Raju Gopalakrishnan
and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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