2020.09.0110:27:00UTC+00Oil Prices Rise Over 1% On Weaker Dollar

Oil prices rose over 1 percent on Tuesday as a weaker U.S. dollar lifted prices across commodities.

Benchmark Brent crude jumped 55 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $45.83 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 45 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $43.06 a barrel.

Both benchmark contracts fell about 1 percent in the previous session on concerns about oversupply, with global demand stuck below pre-Covid levels.

The dollar sank to more than two-year lows, hit by fears about the pace of economic recovery, uncertainty ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November and speculation that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates very low for years.

A lower U.S. currency makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for consumers in other currencies.

Strong Chinese manufacturing data also lifted oil prices. A private survey showed China's factory activity expanded at the fastest clip in nearly a decade in August.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 53.1 from 52.8 in July amid the sharpest increase in output and new orders since 2011.

New export work rose for the first time this year, while employment moved closer to stabilization.

Investors await U.S. stockpile data from the American Petroleum Institute later today for further direction.