Crude oil futures recovered along with global stock markets on
Tuesday, while gold continued its decline.
Crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.83%, to trade at $44.80 a barrel in European trade.
A day earlier, Nymex oil prices plunged $1.27, or 2.78%, after data showed profits earned by Chinese industrial companies in August fell 8.8% from a year earlier. The soft data underlined concerns over the health of the world's second largest economy and added to fears over slackening oil demand.
Global commodity prices slumped Monday, squeezing income for producers of key raw materials and triggering a sector-wide crisis. Shares in commodity trading firms, such as Glencore and Noble, have been hit hard.
Oil traders were looking ahead to official figures from the U.S. government on Wednesday on supply and demand in the United States, the biggest domestic oil market.
Market intelligence firm Genscape calculated that stocks at the
Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for U.S. crude fell by more than
1 million barrels last week, Reuters reported.
"U.S. production has been falling fast, kick-starting the rebalancing process in crude markets," Energy Aspects said in a note to clients. It added that this could pull U.S. crude production down to 8.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the fourth quarter, from initial expectations of 9.1 million bpd.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for November delivery inched up 47 cents, or 1.0%, to trade at $47.82 a barrel during morning hours in London.
On Monday, Brent futures sank $1.26, or 2.59%, as ongoing worries over the health of the global economy fueled concerns that a global supply glut may stick around for longer than anticipated.
Crude oil prices have lost nearly 60% since last summer as lingering concerns over a glut in world markets drove down prices.
Meanwhile, gold futures dipped Tuesday with Comex gold for December delivery slipping 0.60% to 1,124.70 /oz.
