Ammon News - Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as the market digested fears of global economic slowdown alongside tighter crude supply.

Brent crude futures dipped 20 cents to $76.45 a barrel by 0752 GMT after a 0.5% gain the previous day.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 5 cents to $71.74 a barrel after closing 2.9% higher in post-holiday trade on Wednesday to catch up with Brent's gains earlier in the week.

The market has been expecting interest rates in the U.S. and Europe to rise further to tame stubbornly high inflation while fears of a global recession have been heightened by recent surveys showing that factory and services activity in China and Europe has slowed.

A united U.S. central bank agreed to hold rates steady at its June meeting to buy time and assess the need for further hikes, even though most attendees expected they would eventually need to tighten policy further.

On the supply side, top oil exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia announced a fresh round of output cuts for August. The total cuts now stand at more than 5 million barrels per day (bpd), equating to 5% of global oil output.

The cuts, along with a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude stocks, provided some support for prices.

Reuters