Mubasher: Oil prices rose on Tuesday, led by a rally in stock markets kept a lid on losses, amid hopes for a thaw in the US-China trade dispute, Reuters reported.

By 7:09 am GMT, US Nymex crude futures rose by 0.28% to $56.37 per barrel (pb), while global benchmark Brent went up by 0.22% to $59.87 pb.

Equities rose around the world amid growing expectations that global economies would move to curtail a slowdown of growth, pushing crude markets.

In China, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced reforms that are set to reduce interest rates, while German government is preparing to ditch its budget rule and issue new debt to counteract an incoming recession.

Moreover, the US said that it would extend a 90-day reprieve for Huawei , allowing the Chinese tech behemoth to source components from US companies, an indication of a slight easing of the trade tensions between the world’s two biggest oil consumers.

“The US-China trade spat has been at the centre of the oil market demise, which has sent the global economy to the brink of recession and negatively impacted oil demand forecasts,” a note by VM Markets managing partner Stephen Innes was quoted by Reuters.

On the supply front, a survey of seven analysts showed that the US oil stockpiles would drop by 1.9 million barrels in the week to 16 August.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is due later in the day to release its weekly report pertaining the crude inventories, which will be followed by the official figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In the Middle East, market participants were monitoring signs of tensions in the region, after Washington described the release of an Iranian carrier as unfortunate in the midst of a heated sabre rattling between the US and Iran.

It also warned Greece and Mediterranean ports against offering any help for the vessel.

On the demand side, prices remained under pressure after a downbeat report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that fanned worries about growth of oil consumption.

The producer club slashed its projection for global oil demand growth for this year by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.10 million bpd, predicting a slight market oversupply next year.