LONDON—Oil rose on Thursday, extending a rally of nearly 3 percent in the previous session, as optimism over record U.S. crude exports and signs that recession fears are abating outweighed concern over slack demand in China.
Figures on Wednesday showed record U.S. crude exports, a hopeful sign for demand, even as crude stocks rose. The U.S. dollar weakened in early trade on hopes that interest-rate hikes may become less aggressive.
“It appears that recession concerns have abated lately but continuously betting on healthy economic growth will prove foolhardy,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at oil broker PVM.
Brent crude rose 56 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $96.25 a barrel by 1057 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 41 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $88.32….