Oil prices rose on Tuesday, as the number of newly confirmed novel coronavirus cases started to drop in China and eased concerns about the impact on global economic growth and crude demand.
The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery settled 0.37 U.S. dollar higher at 49.94 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery rose 0.74 dollar to close at 54.01 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Tuesday said it received reports of 2,478 newly confirmed cases on Monday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, fewer than those on Sunday.
He Qinghua, an NHC official, said on Tuesday at a press conference that the outbreak situation in provincial-level regions except Hubei has shown an overall downward trend since Feb. 3.
Editor:Cherie
