LONDON: Oil prices edged higher on Thursday as investors remained cautious about the Iran-Israel ceasefire and shifted their attention to market fundamentals after a stock draw in the United States.
Brent crude futures were up 52 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $68.20 a barrel at 3:10 p.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 67 cents, or 1 percent, to $65.59 a barrel.
Both benchmarks climbed nearly 1 percent on Wednesday, recovering from losses earlier in the week after data showed resilient US demand. Brent futures are trading below their close of $69.36 on June 12, the day before Israel started airstrikes on Iran.
Investors are shifting their focus to macroeconomics and oil balances, while monitoring the Israel-Iran truce, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said oil prices had tracked equity markets so far on Thursday, while ANZ analysts said the US driving season had started slowly but was now stoking demand.
