The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, bounced on Monday, snapping a seven-day losing mark that was unrefined’s most exceedingly awful since 2019, as the dollar pulled back and dealers bet the recent selling was overdone.

Brent, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced, rose by $3.58 to $68.76 per barrel as of 8:05pm Nigerian time on Monday, after posting its worst week since October 2020.

“News of no new cases in China has certainly given a tailwind as it gives added light at the end of the COVID tunnel and a breath of fresh air to the demand landscape,” analysts at Blue Line Futures were quoted by CNBC as saying.

“Additionally, the US dollar has retreated from recent highs, underpinning the commodity landscape broadly,” they added.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US oil benchmark, gained $3.50, or 5.6 percent, to settle at $65.64 per barrel.

Earlier in the day, it rose more than six percent to hit a session high of $66, at which point it was on track for its best day since November.

The sharp leap marks a turnaround from last week when the contract sank nearly nine percent for its worst weekly performance since October 2020 and the second negative week in three. WTI ended Friday at its lowest level since May 20.

Oil’s tumble came amid fears of a demand slowdown as the delta variant of COVID-19 spreads, leading to new lockdowns in countries including Japan and New Zealand.

Additionally, weak economic data out of China, which is the world’s largest crude importer, weighed on prices. The latest US inventory report also showed a rise in gasoline stocks as well as an uptick in output from US producers.

Be that as it may, some Wall Street firms said the selling looked exaggerated.

“We discover this price weakness unreasonable and trust it has more to do with the psychology

 of market members than with any disintegration of crucial information,” said analysts at Commerzbank.