Oil down on stock builds, equity rally aids

Crude oil prices softened on Thursday after a surprise build in U.S. inventory levels and on a firm dollar, although stronger equity markets helped support commodities. A respite from bearish economic news in China, closed for public holidays for the rest of the week, also helped stabilize oil prices that have seen volatile swings over the past two weeks. Olivier Jakob, managing director of PetroMatrix, said the market was quietening down after the extreme moves, with public holidays in the worl