Oil stable

Oil prices were steady near $49 a barrel early on Friday with some support from new Chinese reserve regulations yet remained on track for a seventh monthly fall weighed by a global supply glut.
Data this week showed US crude oil inventories had reached their highest levels since the 1930s.
Brent crude oil futures were down 4 cents at $49.09 per barrel at 0839 GMT, while benchmark US WTI futures were up 25 cents at $44.78 a barrel.
Brent is on track to post a 14 percent fall for January, marking a seventh month of decline.
Although Brent prices have kept within a band of $45-$50 a barrel for most of the month, high global stock levels threaten further declines, said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at London-based Energy Aspects. “Given the scale of the stock builds, we aren´t out of the woods yet,” Sen said.