Oil Rebounds Amid Broad Market Recovery

Oil prices rose around 1% on Tuesday in sympathy with a rally in equity markets but investors remained jittery over the Wuhan virus that has now killed over 1,000 in China. 
Brent crude rose 53 cents, nearly 1%, to $53.80 a barrel, retreating from an intraday high of $54.16. US West Texas Intermediate was up 46 cents, about 1%, at $50.18 a barrel, CNBC reported. 
Both benchmarks, however, were still more than 20% below their January peaks. 
“A broad positive sentiment across Asia markets seems to have boosted crude oil prices,” Margaret Yang, market analyst of CMC Markets, told Reuters. 
“The rebound is mild and might be short-lived as China’s energy demand is likely to remain soft in the near term due to virus impact. OPEC+ and Russia will need to come out with a cohesive output cut plan to shore up oil prices,” she said. 
The number of coronavirus deaths in mainland China have now reached 1,016, its National Health Commission said, while the number of cases has topped 42,600. 
The virus has also spread to two dozen other countries, with the head of the World Health Organization cautioning on Monday that the cases outside of China could be “the spark that becomes a bigger fire”. 
Traders remain concerned that China’s oil demand could take a further hit if the coronavirus cannot be contained. Chinese state refiners have already said they will cut as much as 940,000 barrels per day from their crude runs in February due to the virus. “China’s refiners are processing 15% less crude and that could get a lot worse if the virus doesn’t peak this month,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, told Reuters.