By Alex Lawler
LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) – Oil rose nearly 1% on Wednesday, after hitting a three-month low in the previous session, as Chinese economic data boosted hopes of a recovery in demand. and eased market concerns about another financial crisis.
* China’s economic activity picked up in the first two months of 2023, data showed on Wednesday, as consumption and infrastructure investment fueled the recovery after the end of strict coronavirus lockdown measures COVID-19.
* “Oil prices are rallying this morning as traders welcome a flurry of positive macro data from China,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.
* Brent rose 54 cents, or 0.7%, to $79.99 a barrel at 09:15 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 76 cents, or 1.1%, to $72.09.
* On Tuesday, both benchmarks fell more than 4% to three-month lows, under pressure from fears that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week and other bank failures in the United States United do not trigger a new financial crisis which weighs on the demand for fuel.
* Those fears were easing on Wednesday, analysts said. US inflation data, which was in line with expectations and bolstered bets for a lower rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its meeting next week, also boosted sentiment.
* The International Energy Agency’s latest monthly report on Wednesday pointed to an impending increase in oil demand from China, while OPEC raised its Chinese demand forecast for 2023 a day earlier.
* As for other data, investors will watch the release of official U.S. inventories data, due later on Wednesday, to see if it confirms the 1.2 million barrel rise in crude inventories reported by the American Petroleum Institute group on Tuesday. .
(Reporting by Alex Lawler, additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa)