Oil falls as virus death toll climbs, US stocks grow

Oil prices fell on Thursday as the death toll from the new virus in China climbed to 170 and more airlines cancelled flights to the country's major cities, while rising US crude inventories added to the negative tone.

Brent was down 35 cents, or 0.6%, at $59.46 a barrel by 0225 GMT, having risen 0.5% on Wednesday. US crude was down 30 cents, or 0.6%, at $53.03 a barrel, after dropping 0.3% in the previous session.

Still, oil prices have steadied in recent days after a rout that pushed them to three-month lows and the market is trying to assess the damage to economic growth and demand for crude and its products.

US crude stocks rose by more than seven times market expectations, gaining 3.5 million barrels in the week to Jan. 24, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

Gasoline stocks rose to a record high, increasing for a 12th consecutive week to 261.1 million barrels, the EIA said.