Oil prices retreated this evening, partly due to weaker stock markets and a firmer dollar. Profit-taking also helped drive the market back from six-month highs reached on Friday.
US crude was down 47 cents at $58.16 a barrel, though it had earlier fallen as low as $56.78. London Brent crude was down 92 cents at $57.22.
A mood among investors that the worst of the downturn might be over has helped boost world stock markets, and oil has followed.
Oil, which has plummeted from a record high above $147 a barrel reached last year, has edged higher over the past three months. US crude is up about 80% from a January low of $32.70 a barrel.
News from China, the world's second biggest energy consumer, offered support to the view that the economic climate is brightening. A top Chinese central banker said the government's stimulus plan had worked better than expected, while crude imports data showed a spike in demand.
China's April crude oil imports saw the first monthly increase of the year and hit the second-highest record on a daily basis, providing more evidence that oil demand in the country was picking up.
