TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - 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 U.S. crude inventories added to the negative tone.
Brent LCOc1 was down 24 cents, or 0.4%, to $59.57 a barrel
by 0152 GMT, having risen 0.5% on Wednesday. U.S. crude CLc1
was down 26 cents, or 0.5%, to $53.07 a barrel.
A second flight of Japanese evacuees from Wuhan, China,
where the outbreak started, landed in Japan on Thursday, with
nine showing symptoms of fever or coughing, broadcaster NHK
reported. Infections in China have passed 7,700.
"It's becoming more evident to market participants the
balance of risk will remain in the flu cycle much longer than
expected," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at
AxiCorp.
The bigger-than-expected gains in U.S. crude oil inventories
last week also meant "oil prices were dealt the cruellest hand
of them all," Innes said.
Crude stocks rose by more than seven times market
expectations, gaining 3.5 million barrels in the week to Jan.
24, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on
Wednesday. EIA/S
Gasoline stocks rose to a record high, increasing for a 12th
consecutive week to 261.1 million barrels, the EIA said.