WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil climbed higher on Thursday, extending recent gains, as data showing a sharper than expected acceleration in U.S. GDP growth in the second quarter helped offset concerns about a slowdown in Chinese growth and likely drop in oil demand from the world's second largest economy.
Recent data showing another drop in U.S. crude inventories also continued to support oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up by $0.69 at $78.28 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were up $0.65 or 0.8% at $82.36 a barrel a little while ago.
A report released by the Commerce Department showed real gross domestic product in the U.S. surged by 2.8% in the second quarter after jumping by 1.4% in the first quarter. Economists had expected GDP to increase by 2%.
The Commerce Department said the GDP growth primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, private inventory investment, and nonresidential fixed investment.
Compared to the first quarter, the acceleration in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected an upturn in private inventory investment and an acceleration in consumer spending, the Commerce Department said.
On the inflation front, the report said the personal consumption expenditures price index increased 2.6% in the second quarter compared with an increase of 3.4% in the first quarter.
Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 2.9% in the second quarter compared with an increase of 3.7% in the first quarter.
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