Brent edged above $59 a barrel on Tuesday after a 2-per cent slide the session before, buoyed by cautious optimism on the outlook for the global economy.

But the international oil benchmark is still 6-per cent off a peak reached a week ago as worries about oversupply fester.

April Brent had risen 32 cents to $59.22 by 0236 GMT, while front-month US crude was up 10 cents at $49.55.

"People are starting to get a sense of economic recovery and that's providing a bit of support and an underlying stream of confidence," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Sydney's Ayers Alliance.

German business morale inched up to a seven-month high in February, the Ifo index showed on Monday.

Investors will be looking for other rays of hope in a slew of economic data from Europe and the United States later on Tuesday, including numbers on German GDP and US consumer confidence.

Barratt added that the previous day's slide in oil prices could also have spurred some short-covering from investors.

Crude rose briefly on Monday when the Financial Times cited Nigeria's oil minister as saying the country would call an Opec extraordinary meeting if prices fell further. But lingering doubts stemming from key Gulf Opec members' resistance to curb production pared gains.

Oversupply worries also capped further upside momentum, with crude inventories in the United States expected to have increased by 4 million barrels to a record high in the week ending Feb. 20, a preliminary Reuters survey showed on Monday.

Refinery woes have also weighed on crude prices. The largest US refinery strike in 35 years affecting 12 refineries that account for a fifth of national production capacity continued into its fourth week, and talks are not expected to resume this week. – Reuters