WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices traded higher on Thursday after falling around 5 percent in the previous two sessions amid the ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 0.9 percent to $84.16 a barrel, after having fallen by 3 percent to hit a seven-week low in the previous session on EIA data showing an unexpected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles. WTI crude futures were up 0.8 percent at $79.61.
Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories jumped by 7.3 million barrels last week while economists had expected crude oil inventories to decrease by 2.3 million barrels.
At 460.9 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
A softer dollar helped lift oil prices today after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it was still leaning toward eventual reductions in interest rates.
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