Oil prices fell on Thursday as the death toll from the new virus in China climbed to 170 and more airlines cancelled flights to the country’s major cities, while rising US crude inventories added to the negative tone.
Brent was down 35 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $59.46 a barrel by 0225 GMT, having risen 0.5 per cent on Wednesday. US crude was down 30 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $53.03 a barrel, after dropping 0.3 per cent in the previous session.
Still, oil prices have steadied in recent days after a rout that pushed them to three-month lows and the market is trying to assess the damage to economic growth and demand for crude and its products.
