Oil inches up, but concerns over demand recovery cap gains - Reuters

Oil inches up, but concerns over demand recovery cap gains - Reuters:

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, although gains were capped by a surprise build in U.S. crude oil inventories, while a persistent surge in new coronavirus cases continued to dampen a recovery in fuel demand.

U.S. crude and distillate inventories rose unexpectedly and fuel demand slipped in the most recent week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as a sharp rise in coronavirus cases starts to hit U.S. consumption.

Brent crude LCOc1 rose 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $44.36 a barrel by 0545 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $41.98 a barrel.

Prices have been marking time since hitting a four-month high earlier in the week on hopeful news about a coronavirus vaccine.