Oil Prices Gain, WTI Rises Above $50 on Hopes for China-U.S. Trade Breakthrough

Investing.com – Oil prices gained on Wednesday in Asia, with West Texas Intermediate crude rose above the key $50 per barrel mark on hopes for a China-U.S. trade breakthrough.

U.S. gained 1.6% to $50.58 by 12:50 AM ET (05:50 GMT).

, the U.K.-traded global crude benchmark, rose 1.4% to $59.56.

The gains in oil price were in line with Asian stock markets, which climbed to 3-1/2 week highs on Wednesday. The jumped more than 2.5%, while other major markets in Asia also rose more than 1%.

China and the U.S. extended trade talks for an unscheduled third day on Wednesday, amid signs of progress on issues including buying of U.S. farm and energy commodities and increased access to China’s markets.

Meanwhile, state-run newspaper China Daily reported on Wednesday that China would not make any “unreasonable concessions”, although Beijing remained keen to reach a trade deal with Washington.

Although not a directional driver, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:) said on Monday that China’s oil demand growth was expected to drop by 26% to 350,000 barrels per day year on year in 2019, down from 475,000 bpd in 2018.

Uncertainty about the global economy, particularly China, has been holding back this year’s comeback rally in crude after the 40% drop from last year’s highs, despite aggressive Saudi output cuts and a Federal Reserve that has indicated it might not raise interest rates like last year.

“China is undoubtedly the biggest concern, especially given the weakness in the latest economic data,”‘ London-based Energy Aspects said in a note this week. “Unsurprisingly, China’s crude buying is set to soften in the near term, following record imports in November and still elevated arrivals in December.”

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