•Crude futures regained some ground on Thursday, recovering somewhat from strong losses experienced on Wednesday following a bearish set of weekly US stock data and another gloomy day on global financial markets. However, this upswing may only be short-lived due to the overall bearish demand outlook and the persistent strength in the US dollar, sources said.

•"We are seeing a bit of a correction today as the market is looking technically supportive for now...but personally I think that the rally will only be short-lived," a London-based broker said. "There will be the usual pre-OPEC meeting buying but it will be selling into it once OPEC is out of the way as the bearish demand figures just can't be ignored," he added.

•The upcoming OPEC meeting has provided a floor under prices, with Iran's oil minister Gholamhossein Nozari the latest in a string of OPEC officials to talk of an output cut. Arriving in Vienna Thursday, he said that an oil output cut of 2 million-2.5 million b/d would be the right figure when OPEC holds its emergency meeting Friday.

•More gloomy fundamental news emerged on Wednesday, as the weekly US petroleum data published by the EIA showed a total product demand reduction of 8.5% year-on-year over the last for weeks, with crude stocks building by 3.2 million barrels.

Updated: October 23, 2008