Oil Climbs $40 Per Barrel Amid Commodities Recovery

The oil price has hit $40 a barrel for the first time in 2016 as commodities continue to rally.

Brent crude, used as an international benchmark, later fell slightly and was trading at $39.81 a barrel.

Oil slid below $28 in January, but has since risen as part of a wider recovery in energy and metal prices.

The price of iron also shot up, rising 19% amid greater optimism about Chinese economic growth and demand for the metal in the country’s refineries.

James Hughes, chief market analyst at GKFX, said metal prices were now picking up in part because they fell so heavily last year.