Oil benchmarks stable

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SINGAPORE- Oil prices steadied on Thursday as markets shrugged off deflationary indicators in China and looked for further clues on the status of demand from the world’s two biggest oil consumers.

Brent crude futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1 percent , to $79.62 a barrel.  US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 6 cents, or 0.1 percent , at $75.39 a barrel.

The uptick came after both benchmarks fell more than 2 percent  to their lowest since mid-July on Wednesday, as worry over potential supply disruptions in the Middle East eased and concern over US and Chinese demand intensified.

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“The more subdued gains still reflect reservations in place, with macroeconomic factors and technicals giving sellers the upper hand for now,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG.

Thursday’s gains likely reflect an attempt for prices to stabilize after the strong sell-off in previous days, said Yeap.

Meanwhile, China inflation data released on Thursday showed that October CPI fell 0.2 percent  year on year, while PPI data fell 2.6 percent  year on year. This was broadly in line with a Reuters’ poll that forecast CPI would fall 0.1 percent  and PPI 2.7 percent.

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