Oil prices steadied above $88 a barrel on Wednesday after rallying in the previous session on a surprise fall in U.S. crude stocks and a drop in business activity in the world’s largest oil consumer.
That reversed some of Brent’s roughly 1.6% gain from the previous session, when the market was also buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar and as investors dialled down concerns over conflict in the Middle East. U.S. business activity cooled in April to a four-month low, with S&P Global saying on Tuesday that its flash Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 50.9 this month from 52.1 in March.