2020.07.2310:13:00UTC+00Oil Prices Inch Higher In Cautious Trade

Oil prices rose in cautious trade on Thursday as Covid-19 vaccine hopes, improving economic data and hopes for another round of government stimulus for the virus-stricken U.S. economy helped investors shrug off a surprise increase in U.S. crude oil reserves.

Benchmark Brent crude rose 39 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $44.68 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 35 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $42.25 a barrel.

More than 200 candidate vaccines are currently being developed, with 23 having progressed to clinical trials with human volunteers.

In economic releases, a survey showed German consumer morale improved more than expected heading into August.

Market research group GfK said its forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -0.3 points from revised -9.4 in July. The expected reading was -5.0.

Gfk said German consumers are gradually putting the coronavirus shock of earlier this year behind them. A V-shaped trend is currently emerging for the consumer climate.

In France, business confidence gained further ground in July. The INSEE official statistics agency said its business climate index rose to 85, from 78 in June.

On the stimulus front, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to put forward the Republican version of another comprehensive stimulus relief package-including a second stimulus check-later today.

Meanwhile, data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed that crude inventories in the U.S. increased by 4.9 million barrels last week, nearly 2.5 times the expected increase.

The EIA data also showed that oil stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma, facility rose 1.37 million barrels last week. That was nearly two times the expected surge.

A report from the American Petroleum Institute, released late Tuesday showed oil inventories were up more than 7.5 million barrels last week, after seeing an 8.3 million barrels drop a week earlier.