Oil jumps on Chinese factory growth, hopes for deeper OPEC cuts
Oil prices rose more than 1 per cent on Monday as signs of rising manufacturing activity in China pointed to increasing fuel demand and hints that OPEC may deepen output cuts at its meeting this week indicated supply may tighten next year.
Brent crude futures rose 74 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $61.23 a barrel by 0157 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose $86 or 1.6 per cent, to $56.03 a barrel, having risen by more than $1 earlier.
On Friday, WTI futures settled 5.1 per cent lower amid reduced volumes because of last week’s Thanksgiving Day holiday while Brent plunged 4.4 per cent. Prices fell on concerns that talks to end the trade war between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest oil users, would be disrupted by US support for protesters in Hong Kong.
