Sharjah24 – Reuters: Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday as investors looked for bargains following the previous day's plunge, but gains were capped as pandemic lockdowns in Europe and a build in U.S. crude stocks curbed risk appetite and raised oversupply fears.
Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $61.06 a barrel by 0108 GMT, after tumbling 5.9% and hitting a low of $60.50 the previous day.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $57.95 a barrel, having lost 6.2% and touched a low of $57.32 on Tuesday.
Both benchmarks touched their lowest levels since early February on Tuesday and have now fallen more than 14% from their recent highs earlier this month.
The front-month spread for both Brent and WTI slipped into contango, where front-month contracts are lower than the later months, a sign that demand for prompt crude is declining.
"Investors adjusted positions from Tuesday's sharp selloff," said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co.
"But the market sentiment remained bearish due to growing concerns about demand recovery in the wake of new pandemic curbs in Europe," he said.
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