Brent rises more than 2% on positive Chinese data

Brent crude prices gained more than 2% as the US market opened on Monday, to recover from a 1-week low hit on Friday, lifted by upbeat Chinese manufacturing activity data for November, and hints that OPEC Plus are considering to deepen the output cut agreement during the next meeting this week.

Brent rose by more than 2% to $62.04 a barrel, after opening at $60.74, and hit a session-low of $60.73.

Brent futures shed 4% on Friday, marking the largest daily loss since Sept.30 and posted a 1-week low of $60.38.

The sharp drop came due to mounting tensions between the US and China, which could escalate the ongoing raging trade war between the two sides.

Global oil prices gained an average of 2.75% during November, posting the first monthly gain since June.

On the latest signs about the recovery of the Chinese domestic demand thanks to the government's stimulus measures, the manufacturing sector grew to 51.8 points in November,, higher than forecasts of 51.5, and also higher than October's reading of 51.7.

The reading is the highest since December 2016 for the Chinese manufacturing sector, a positive sign for improved economic growth and the the recovery of the world's largest oil importer.

The Iraq's oil minister said on Sunday that OPEC and allied oil producers (OPEC+) will consider extending their production cut agreement by about 400,000 barrels per day to 1.6 million bpd.

OPEC's next meeting is due December 5 at the headquarters in Vienna, and will be followed by talks with the allied oil producers led by Russia.

This global coalition is currently implementing an output cut agreement by about 1.2 million bpd until March 2020, which is aimed at balancing the market and oil prices.