Oil held steady on Thursday after strong earnings from Meta (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) supported U.S. equities and a delay in U.S.-Iran talks offset concerns about the U.S. economy and the prospect of higher OPEC+ oil output.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to $58.04 a barrel by 12:30 p.m. ET (1630 GMT). Brent crude futures fell 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $60.90. Both contracts fell more than 1% earlier.

"Crude remains the target for lower prices in the near term as OPEC+ signals production, which is likely to be approved at next week's OPEC meeting," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.

"The U.S. GDP figures showed a slight contraction and consumer confidence also declined, which has pushed most long-term hedge funds away from the long side of crude on demand concerns," Kissler added.

Wall Street stocks rose and gold prices fell on Thursday as solid earnings from big tech companies boosted investors' risk appetite.

Meanwhile, the fourth round of talks between the United States and Iran, which were due to take place in Rome on Saturday, has been postponed and a new date will be set "depending on the U.S. approach," a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.

Concerns about higher supplies are also weighing on prices. Saudi Arabia has told allies and industry experts that it is unwilling to prop up the oil market with supply cuts and can manage a prolonged period of low prices, sources told Reuters.

Some OPEC+ members will suggest the group accelerate output increases in June for a second straight month, three people familiar with the OPEC+ talks said. The eight OPEC+ nations meet on May 5 to decide on June output plans.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter, data showed on Wednesday, swamped by a flood of imports as businesses scrambled to avoid higher costs from tariffs and underscoring the disruptive impact of President Donald Trump's unpredictable trade policies. Trump's tariffs have made it more likely the global economy will slip into recession this year, a Reuters poll showed. U.S. crude stocks unexpectedly fell by 2.7 million barrels last week on higher export and refinery demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 429,000-barrel increase. (Newsmaker23)

Source: Investing.com