Oil prices fell slightly on Monday as the lack of progress in U.S. - China trade talks weighed on prices, but optimistic U.S. inventory data provided some support.
Brent crude oil futures fell 33 cents to close at $62.18 a barrel after falling to $61.57 earlier in the session. US crude oil futures fell 38 cents to close at $56.86 a barrel.
Investors are worried about the impact of the 16 month long US China trade war. The trade war has slowed global economic growth and prompted analysts to lower their forecasts for oil demand, raising concerns about possible oversupply in 2020.
"We expect the sideways trend to continue for some time and the news of trade conflict may determine the trend," Commerzbank said in a report
U.S. President trump said Saturday that trade talks with China are "very smooth," but the United States will only reach agreements that are beneficial to the United States.
Trump also said it was wrong to report that the United States was willing to lift tariffs as part of the "first phase" agreement, which had previously boosted markets.
Data released over the weekend highlighted the impact of the trade war. China's producer price index (PPI) fell the most in more than three years in October, according to data.
China's auto sales fell for the 16th consecutive month in October, according to data released on Monday.
Oil prices recovered some of the losses after traders quoted data from market intelligence company genscape as saying data released on Monday showed that inventory in Cushing, the US crude oil futures delivery site, fell by about 1.2 million barrels in the week ending November 8.
According to the latest report for the week ending November 1, Cushing's inventory has grown for five consecutive weeks, according to government data. But analysts had expected a change in inventory growth following the closure of the keystone pipeline on October 30. The artery, which transports 590000 barrels of Canadian heavy crude a day to the Midwest of the United States, was shut down after an oil spill.
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