05.12.201805:19:00UTC+00Oil Prices Fall On Growth Worries, Trade Uncertainty

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, with signs of swelling U.S. inventories, uncertainty about trade and global growth worries weighing on the commodity.

Global benchmark Brent crude dropped half a percent to $61.77 per barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.55 percent at $52.97 per barrel. U.S. crude slumped around 2 percent earlier in the day before recovering some lost ground.

Prices came under pressure after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 5.4 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 30. Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration is due later in the day.

The oil markets also remained spooked by a sell-off on Wall Street overnight on worries about trade and growth.

There is skepticism and confusion about the truce between the U.S. and China on trade after China promised action but gave no details on the tentative truce.

The bond market is flashing warning signs after the U.S. Treasury curve inverted for the first time in more than a decade.

Investor confidence is also waning due to Brexit-related uncertainty after Theresa May's government suffered three successive defeats in the British Parliament on Tuesday.