NEW YORK, April 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. oil prices edged up slightly on Tuesday as the market digested the latest macroeconomic data from major economies.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery gained three cents, or 0.04 percent, to settle at 80.86 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery increased one cent, or 0.01 percent, to settle at 84.77 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
While the stronger-than-expected economic growth in China bolstered market sentiment, continuous deterioration of a key economic sentiment indicator in Germany weighed on oil prices.
An indicator of economic sentiment for Germany in April read 4.1 points, down from 13 points in March and much lower than market forecast consensus of 15.1 points, according to a monthly expert survey published by the Leibniz Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) on Tuesday.
The key German investor sentiment survey weighed on crude, as optimism for the eurozone's largest economy remains downbeat in the coming quarters, according to Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, a supplier of online multi-asset trading services.
Meanwhile, China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.
"As of this morning, oil markets are regaining some ground as traders cheer the release of forecast-beating Chinese GDP data," said a research note by PVM Oil Associates on Tuesday.
Separate data revealed that China's crude throughputs surged to record levels last month, noted PVM Oil Associates.
Oil isn't getting any good news here and that means prices could continue to hover around 80 U.S. dollars per barrel, or even see a tentative dip below if sellers get some help from a strong dollar, said Moya.
U.S. crude inventories were estimated to show a decline of 400,000 barrels in last week, and U.S. gasoline and distillate stocks should tighten by 1.6 million barrels and 600,000 barrels in the period, respectively, according to a survey issued by S&P Global Commodity Insights on Tuesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release weekly oil inventory data on Wednesday.
