Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures turned higher after hitting a one-week low on Thursday, as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Crude oil for delivery in October on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit an intraday low of $43.36 a barrel, the weakest level since September 2, before turning higher to trade at $44.81 during European morning hours, up 66 cents, or 1.49%. A day earlier, Nymex oil prices plunged $1.79, or 3.9%.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration was to release its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM ET later Thursday. The data was expected to show that crude stockpiles rose by 1.0 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles were forecast to decline by 0.6 million barrels.
The report comes out one day later than usual due to Monday's Labor Day holiday in the U.S.
After markets closed Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels in the week ended September 4, compared to expectations for a gain of 0.3 million.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for October delivery tacked on 54 cents, or 1.13%, to trade at $48.12 a barrel, bouncing back after falling to a daily low of $46.76, a level not seen since August 28.
On Wednesday, Brent futures lost $1.94, or 3.92%, as ongoing worries over the health of the global economy fueled concerns that a global supply glut may stick around for longer than anticipated.
Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the OPEC last year not to cut production.
Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $3.31 a barrel, compared to $3.43 by close of trade on Wednesday.
Asian equity markets fell sharply on Thursday, as appetite for riskier assets weakened amid worries over sluggish global growth.
The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.5% after weak China inflation data added to speculation policymakers in Beijing will have to introduce further stimulus measures to boost growth.
Government data showed that Chinese producer prices fell by a more-than-expected 5.9% in August, the 42nd straight monthly decline and the worst reading since October 2009.
Consumer prices rose 2.0% last month, above expectations for 1.8% and up from 1.6% in July. Non-food inflation remained subdued at 1.1%, unchanged from a month earlier.
Meanwhile, Japan's blue-chip Nikkei stock index fell 2.5% after a key gauge of capital spending fell unexpectedly in July, fueling concerns over the health of the economy.
The downbeat sentiment carried over to European markets, where Germany's DAX, France’s CAC 40 and London's FTSE 100 were all down almost 1% in early trade.
Global financial markets have been roiled in recent weeks by fears that China's slowdown could drag on already sluggish global growth.