Oil steadies

London/Singapore

Oil prices steadied on Tuesday after sharp falls the session before to the lowest in about three weeks as a stronger U.S. dollar and a drop in Chinese refining runs hit the market. Global benchmark Brent crude futures were up 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $50.76 at 0551 GMT.

That was just above the contract´s 100-day moving average, briefly breached in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1 cent at $47.58 a barrel. Oil prices tumbled more than 2.5 percent on Monday in volatile trade as the dollar strength and the demand concerns in China, the world´s second-largest oil user, weighed on sentiment. A stronger dollar tends to limit the demand for oil for buyers paying in other currencies. Chinese oil refineries operated in July at their lowest daily rates since September 2016, official data showed on Monday, to ease brimming inventories as state-owned oil giants faced off independents in a retail petrol price war.