Crude climbs on Chinese growth, but European inflation limits its advances

By Rowena Edwards

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) – Oil rose on Thursday, although gains on signs of a strong economic recovery in China, the top crude importer, were dampened by fears of possible interest rate hikes. in Europe.

* Brent crude oil futures rose 43 cents, or 0.51%, to $84.74 a barrel at 10:17 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 45 cents, or 0.58%, to $78.14.

* China’s manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade last month, data showed on Wednesday, adding to evidence of a rebound in the world’s second-largest economy after tough restrictions were removed on COVID-19 coronaviruses.

* Chinese imports of Russian oil by sea will hit a record high this month as refiners take advantage of low prices.

* However, the market was pressured by rising expectations for rate hikes from the European Central Bank (ECB) following a faster-than-expected acceleration in consumer prices in France, Spain and Germany.

* Eurozone inflation recorded a higher-than-expected annual rate of 8.5% in February, according to an initial estimate from the EU statistics agency.

* In the United States, the tenth consecutive week of accumulation of crude oil reserves also weighed.

* Record US crude oil exports, however, kept the accumulation at levels below those of recent weeks, reported the Energy Information Administration (EIA, for its acronym in English).

(Reporting by Rowena Edwards; Additional reporting by Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa)