Oil edges up to $42 after slide

Oil edged higher to $42 a barrel on Wednesday after hitting its lowest since April the previous day, supported by an industry report showing a fall in U.S. inventories and a weaker dollar.

But prices could struggle to make much headway, analysts said, as sentiment remains bearish. A supply glut that has weighed on prices could increase if oil exports actually restart from ports in Libya that have been closed since 2014.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 27 cents a barrel at $42.07 at 0957 GMT. It reached $41.51 on Tuesday, the lowest since April 18. U.S. crude CLc1 added 28 cents to $39.79.

"The sentiment is still quite negative and depressed on oil prices," said Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank.

"There are factors which should be supportive, but at the moment I think there is no single (piece of) news which would convince the bears that the decline is over."

The U.S. dollar stayed close to a six-week low against a basket of currencies, lending oil some support. Weakness in the dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for other currency holders.