Oil prices climb on positive US economic growth data but were limited by Chinese trade data

International benchmarks for crude oil gained some traction on Tuesday, 8 August 2023, instigated by a promising outlook for the economy forecasted by a US government agency but underwhelming trade data from China haltered the positive growth.

Prices were on the back foot during the early hours of the session but changed course after a monthly report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted the gross domestic product growth to climb by 1.9% for the year, rising above the 1.5% expectation.

However, contractions in Chinese trade activity curbed the rise as Chinese imports shrank by 12.4% in July, a gaping difference from the 5% predicted drop while exports plunged 14.5% against a 12.5% drop.

Brent crude rose by 83 cents to end the session at $86.17/barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate settled 98 cents higher at $82.92/barrel.