Oil inches higher, but gains capped by widening economic impact of coronavirus outbreak

Oil prices were slightly higher on Wednesday with gains limited by the widening economic impact from the coronavirus epidemic that started in China. However, new confirmed cases fell for the second day in the province at the centre of the outbreak.

Brent crude was up by 6 cents at $57.81 a barrel by 0149 GMT, while U.S. oil was up 7 cents at $51.97 a barrel. Both contracts started the Asian session trading lower.

China is struggling to get manufacturing back online in the world’s second-largest economy after imposing stringent city-wide lockdowns and travel restrictions in efforts to contain the virus.

Official data showed new cases in Hubei province fell for a second straight day, although the number of deaths increased, and the World Health Organization earlier cautioned there was not enough data to know if the epidemic was being contained.