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Oil prices rise amid upbeat data

Xinhua, December 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Oil prices ended higher on Thursday as U.S. economic data came out overall positive.

The real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, the fastest quarterly growth since 2014, according to the third estimate released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The growth rate was revised up from the second estimate of 3.2 percent and also higher than market consensus.

In a separate report, the department announced on Thursday that new orders for manufactured durable goods in November decreased 11 billion U.S. dollars or 4.6 percent to 228.2 billion dollars, exceeding market estimates.

Analysts said the better-than-expected durable goods suggests that some of the oil-related drag on manufacturing was starting to fade.

The West Texas Intermediate for February Delivery increased 0.46 dollars to settle at 52.95 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery added 0.59 dollars to close at 55.05 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem