Oil price falls but sentiment stays strong on demand recovery hopes

TOKYO (Reuters) – Crude dropped on Tuesday as investors cashed in on a recent rally, but market sentiment remained solid on hopes for a quick recovery in oil demand in the U.S. and European markets and fading expectations for an early return of Iranian crude.

Brent crude futures for August eased 10 cents, or 0.1%, to $74.80 a barrel by 0110 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July was at $73.44 a barrel, down 22 cents, or 0.3%. WTI for August fell 15 cents, or 0.2%, to 72.97 a barrel.

Brent gained 1.9% and WTI jumped 2.8% on Monday.

Both benchmarks have risen for the past four weeks on optimism over the pace of global COVID-19 vaccinations and expected pick-up in summer travel.