Oil falls as virus death toll climbs, US inventories rise

TOKYO: 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 24 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $59.57 a barrel by 0152 GMT, having risen 0.5 per cent on Wednesday. US crude was down 26 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $53.07 a barrel.

A second flight of Japanese evacuees from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak started, landed in Japan on Thursday, with nine showing symptoms of fever or coughing, broadcaster NHK reported. Infections in China have passed 7,700.