Brent crude futures were trading down 60 cents, or 0.7%, at $85.23 a barrel by 1520 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 47 cents, or 0.6%, at $79.21.
“Crude remains in a tug-of-war between optimism over Chinese reopening and nervousness over a hawkish Fed hurting the U.S. economy,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.
China’s closely watched growth outlook, announced on Sunday, was lower than last year’s 5.5% target for gross domestic product (GDP) growth. GDP grew last year by only 3%. Policy sources had told Reuters the target could be set as high as 6% for 2023.
Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday said the foundation for stable growth in China needed to be consolidated, that insufficient demand remained a pronounced problem and the expectations of private investors and businesses were unstable.
“Safe to say markets were surprised by the decision to target only 5% growth this year…
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