Brent holds steady on Middle East concern

Keeping watch: oil prices remained steady as concern over the euro zone offset supply worries from the Middle East

News Wires

 25 July 2012 05:37 GMT

Brent remained steady at $103 a barrel on Wednesday as worries about oil demand from the troubled euro zone and the US offset any gains to oil prices sparked by concerns about supply from the Middle East.

The euro zone's private sector shrank for a sixth month in July as manufacturing output nosedived, notably in the core countries of Germany and France, adding to the likelihood that the bloc will slump back into recession, business surveys showed on Tuesday.

Also weighing on prices was further evidence that the economy of the world's biggest oil consumer was slowing: data showed US manufacturing activity in July expanded at its slowest pace since late 2010.

An improvement in China's manufacturing sector, and the conflict in Syria as well as Iran's tensions with the…

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