SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday as the dollar slipped, with risk appetite returning as some governments resist imposing lockdowns to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant and as China said it would be able to sustain economic growth.
Brent crude futures rose 7 cents to $74.05 a barrel at 0623 GMT after gaining 3.4% on Tuesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 24 cents to $71.36 per barrel after jumping 3.7% on Tuesday.
Oil prices typically move inversely to the U.S. dollar, with a weaker greenback making commodities cheaper for those holding other currencies, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, a senior Chinese state planning official said Beijing would work to aid economic growth, including stepping up government spending, strengthening support to manufacturers and stabilizing industry supply chains, Reuters said.
China, the world’s biggest oil importer, would “strive to stabilize economic operations in the first quarter, the first half and even the whole year,” the official told Xinhua News Agency.
Meanwhile, some governments are trying to hold off imposing new pandemic curbs to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
