Oil steady amid delay in US-Iran talks

Oil held steady on Thursday after strong earnings from Meta and Microsoft supported US equities and the postponement of US-Iran talks offset concerns about the US economy and the prospect of higher OPEC+ oil output.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures eased 15 cents or 0.3% to $58.04 a barrel by 1630 GMT. Brent crude futures fell 18 cents or 0.2% to $60.90. Both contracts fell over 1% earlier.

"Crude remains in the crosshairs of lower prices near term as OPEC+ is signalling production, which will likely get approval at next week's OPEC meeting," said Dennis Kissler, Senior Vice President of Trading at BOK Financial.

Meanwhile, a fourth round of talks between the United States and Iran has been postponed and a new date will be set "depending on the US approach," a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.