Oil rebounds from two days of losses in volatile trade | Reuters

Oil rebounds from two days of losses in volatile trade | Reuters

Oil prices rebounded from two days of losses in a volatile session on Thursday, bolstered by weakness in the dollar and expectations that China could ease some lockdown restrictions that could boost demand.

Crude benchmarks continued their spate of wild swings, with both Brent and U.S. crude rising by nearly $5 a barrel in the span of a few hours, recovering from losses earlier in the week.

"The market has been extremely volatile," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston. "The market is reacting to all sorts of different headlines hour to hour, and the movement in oil markets on a day-by-day basis getting even more exaggerated."

Brent crude futures for July settled at $112.04, a gain of $2.93 a barrel, or 2.7%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for June settled up $2.62, or 2.4%, to $112.21 a barrel.

In China, investors are closely watching plans to ease coronavirus curbs from June 1 in the most populous city of Shanghai, which could lead to a rebound in oil demand from the world's top crude importer.