Oil rebounded from its lowest level since mid-October as investors weighed the extent to which China’s coronavirus would hurt fuel demand.
Futures recovered 0.6% in New York on Tuesday after losing more than 9% across five straight days of declines. Investors found comfort in the possibility of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies extending and deepening production cuts at its March meeting to stave off any supply imbalances if the coronavirus outbreak worsens.
There’s some short-covering “after the worst-case demand scenario got priced in,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. Sentiment improved after the sell off captured the attention of Saudi Arabia and China ramped up efforts to contain the outbreak, he said. “They’ve shown the market they’re not going to take this lying down.”
