Brent holds above $40

Reuters

Singapore

Oil prices fell on Tuesday on weak Chinese trading data, but Brent remained over $40 a barrel after jumping to 2016 highs the previous day when producers announced talks to support the market and investors opened new bullish bets.

Brent crude futures LOCc1 managed to defend $40 per barrel, standing at $40.27 at 0647 GMT, down 57 cents from their last settlement. On Monday, the contract had surged over 5.5 percent in intra-day trading and has gained almost 50 percent from its 2016 lows on Jan. 20.  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $37.48 a barrel, down 42 cents from their last close but over 40 percent up from their 2016 low on Feb. 11. On the demand side, China's crude imports jumped 19.1 percent between January and February to 31.80 million tonnes, or about 8 million barrels per day, despite overall weak trading figures released on Tuesday.