Oil prices steadied Thursday after commodities prices, led by metals, fell as investors worried that an economic slowdown in emerging markets and China could harm demand. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was up 0.2% to $70.93 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 0.2% at $65.12 a barrel. Brent is down around 2.9% this week, while metals including copper and platinum have fallen even more sharply . The plunge in Turkey’s lira has alarmed investors over contagion into other emerging market currencies , while weak economic data from China also dragged on sentiment. “Fears of an emerging market crisis and a slowdown in China sent shock waves through financial markets,” said Carsten Menke, commodities research analyst at Julius Baer. Last week the International Energy Agency forecast global oil demand to grow 1.4 million barrels a […]