NEW YORK, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices ended mixed on Tuesday, pressured by concerns about demand.
The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery lost 16 cents to settle at 45.60 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery increased 5 cents to close at 48.84 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Surging COVID-19 cases in some major economies sparked concerns over the prospects for fuel demand, weighing on the market.
Traders also awaited weekly U.S. crude stockpiles data set to be released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
On average, the EIA is forecast to report a decline of 700,000 barrels in domestic crude supplies for the week ended Dec. 4, according to a survey of analysts conducted by S&P Global Platts.
