Oil steadies on bargain-hunting; virus fears cap gains - Reuters

Oil steadies on bargain-hunting; virus fears cap gains - Reuters:

Oil steadied on Tuesday as investors sought bargains after crude benchmarks slumped almost 4% in the previous session, although concerns about the coronavirus spreading out of China denting major economies and curbing fuel demand capped gains.

Brent crude rose 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $56.49 a barrel by 0436 GMT, after slipping 3.8% on Monday, the largest single-day price fall since Feb. 3.

U.S. crude futures gained 17 cents, or 0.3%, to $51.60, recovering from a 3.7% drop in the previous session.

“Because we’ve seen a very significant fall in case of West Texas, from above $60 to touch below $50 (over the past six weeks), I think oil has largely reflected a lot of risk, unlike other markets,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, told Reuters over the phone.