Oil rises as investors return from holidays, eye China recovery
Live MintBy Florence Tan SINGORE, - Oil prices nudged higher on Thursday, the first day of trade for 2025, as investors returning from holidays cautiously eyed a recovery in China's economy and fuel demand following a pledge by President Xi Jinping to promote growth. Traders are returning to their desks and probably weighing higher geopolitical risks and also the impact of Trump running the U.S. economy red hot versus the impact of tariffs, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said. U.S. crude oil and distillate stockpiles are expected to have fallen last week while gasoline inventories likely rose, an extended Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. U.S. oil demand surged to the highest levels since the pandemic in October at 21.01 million barrels per day, up about 700,000 bpd from September, EIA data showed on Tuesday.