Brent crude edged up toward $59 a barrel on Wednesday, helped by better-than-expected Chinese factory activity data, the Federal Reserve’s flexible stance on U.S. interest rates and the euro zone’s approval of reforms proposed by Greece. But U.S. crude was weaker after settling lower for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday on the back of a bigger-than- anticipated crude stock build-up. Brent had climbed 11 cents to $58.77 a barrel by 0751 GMT (2.51 a.m. EST), while U.S. crude futures fell 17 cents to $49.11 a barrel. China’s factory sector showed marginal expansion, according to the flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index, which inched to a four-month high of 50.1 in February, just above the 50 level that separates growth in activity from contraction. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a reading of 49.5. “That’s good news (as it means) potential oil demand, but I think […]