OIL PRICE: BRENT NEAR $72, WTI ABOVE $68 ANEW

REUTERS - Oct 1, 2024  - Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as stronger supply prospects and tepid global demand growth outweighed worries that escalating tensions in the Middle East could impact output from the key exporting region.

Brent crude futures for December delivery edged up 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $71.77 a barrel as of 0335 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for November delivery gained 8 cents, or 0.12%, to $68.25.

On Monday, Brent futures ended September down 9%, its third month of declines and largest monthly drop since November 2022. It slumped 17% in the third quarter for its biggest quarterly loss in a year. WTI fell 7% last month and dropped 16% for the quarter.

"There have been a lot of reservations in place for oil prices, as market participants look towards upcoming supply additions from OPEC+ by the end of this year, alongside a still-soft demand outlook from China reflected in the country’s latest PMI numbers," said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.

"That said, sentiments have been less sensitive to the weaker data, finding room to stabilise on the hopes that recent raft of stimulus may help to jumpstart the economy ahead," said Yeap.

China's manufacturing activity shrank sharply in September as new orders at home and abroad cooled, pulling down factory owners' confidence to near record lows, a private-sector survey showed on Monday.

Analysts say a slew of stimulus measures over the last week are likely to be enough to bring China's 2024 growth back to about 5% after below-forecast data in the past several months cast doubts over that target, but will hardly change the long-term outlook.

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