Headline: Oil Prices Stabilize After Significant Weekly Decline

Oil prices showed signs of stabilizing early Monday, following a drop of over 7% last week. This decline was attributed to concerns about demand from China, the world's largest oil importer, and eased fears of potential supply disruptions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose 8 cents to $73.14 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 10 cents to $69.32 a barrel. Last week's performance marked the largest weekly drop for both contracts since September 2, with Brent down more than 7% and WTI down about 8%. This downturn was driven by slowing economic growth in China and reduced risk premiums in the Middle East. Despite overall easing of tensions, new developments emerged in the Middle East over the weekend. On Sunday, Israel announced preparations for possible strikes on locations in Beirut connected to Hezbollah's financial activities. On Monday morning, China made the widely anticipated move to cut benchmark interest rates as part of efforts to revitalize its economy. This action was part of a larger stimulus package aimed at countering the economic slowdown. Recent data showed China's economic growth in the third quarter to be the slowest since the beginning of 2023, raising concerns about oil demand. On the supply side, the number of operational oil and natural gas drilling rigs in the U.S. fell in four of the past five weeks. Energy services firm Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the total rig count decreased by one to 585.