subscribe now to get the evening briefing five things matt levines money stuff balance of power and tech daily subscribe now to get the evening briefing five things matt levines money stuff balance of power and tech daily subscribe now to get the evening briefing five things matt levines money stuff balance of power and tech daily by submitting my information i agree to the privacy policy and terms of service and to receive offers and promotions from bloomberg oil held the bulk of a near 2 gain made wednesday on signs of rising demand in asia and a us industry report showing lower stockpiles west texas intermediate for august traded above 72 a barrel emerging demand from refiners in china japan and southeast asia has bolstered prices of middle eastern oil pointing to tighter market balances us stockpiles dropped by more than 1 million barrels last week according to people familiar with data from the industryfunded american petroleum institute official supplyanddemand figures are due later on thursday oil is headed for a small monthly increase as china the world’s largest crude importer takes steps to shore up its economy additional support for crude has come from the organization of petroleum exporting countries and its allies with the cartel agreeing to curb production in a bid to revive prices expectations for further measures from china “continue to underpin expectations for demand recovery” said charu chanana market strategist for saxo capital markets pte in singapore traders were also weighing commentary from federal reserve chair jerome powell who warned that further interestrate increases were likely warranted to quell inflation still fed reserve bank of atlanta president raphael bostic said he supports holding the targetrate level for the rest of 2023 while “powell reiterated the case for two more rate hikes other fed members last night sounded dovish relieving demand concerns” said chanana to get bloomberg’s energy daily newsletter direct into your inbox click here