WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices moved up sharply on Tuesday amid hopes the latest stimulus move by China will help push up demand for the commodity.
Possibility of a ceasefire deal in the Middle East limited oil's upside. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel to revive Gaza ceasefire talks following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but any breakthrough looks elusive.
Israel is accelerating military operations to push Hezbollah away from its northern border while thrusting into Gaza's densely packed Jabalia refugee camp in an attempt to seal off northern Gaza from the rest of the enclave.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $1.53 or about at $72.09 a barrel.
Brent crude futures climbed to $75.83 a barrel, gaining $1.54 or about 2.1%.
China reduced its benchmark lending rates by 25 basis points on Monday as the economic growth slowed further amid persistent deflationary pressures.
The People's Bank of China cut its one-year loan prime rate to 3.1% from 3.35%. Likewise, the five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was lowered to 3.6% from 3.85%. The bank had previously lowered the rates by 10 basis points in July.
The announcement was widely expected as PBoC Governor Pan Gongsheng last week said the bank will cut the LPR by 0.2-0.25 percentage points. The governor also said that the bank could further cut the reserve requirement ratio by 0.2-0.5 percentage points at appropriate time depending on the market liquidity before the year-end.
Markets now await weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The API report is due later today, while EIA will release its inventory data Wednesday morning.
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