Daily Times

Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Monday as signs of rising manufacturing activity in China pointed to increasing fuel demand, and hints that OPEC may deepen output cuts at its meeting this week indicated supply may tighten next year. Brent crude futures rose 76 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $61.25 a barrel by 0415 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 91 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $56.08 a barrel, having risen by more than $1 earlier. On Friday, WTI futures settled 5.1 percent lower while Brent plunged 4.4 percent on concerns that talks to end the trade war between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest oil users, would be disrupted by US support for protesters in Hong Kong. But oil rose on Monday after factory activity in November in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, increased for the first time in seven months because of rising domestic demand amid government stimulus measures. “At the open, prices remain supported by the surprising resilient China factory activity with the forward-looking PMI’s beating expectations,” said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader.