By Robert Harvey and Arunima Kumar

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices were stable on Thursday with the benchmark holding above $85 a barrel, as investors balanced a bleaker demand growth view from the International Energy Agency (IEA) with a indications of growing U.S. consumption.

Brent futures were up by 1 cent, or 0.01% to $85.09 a barrel by 1207 GMT. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped by 9 cents, or 0.11%, to $82.01.

In its latest monthly oil market report, the IEA saw global demand growth at its lowest in more than a year at 710,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter, mainly reflecting a contraction in China’s consumption.

The IEA’s global crude demand growth forecast for 2024 was kept largely unchanged at 970,000 bpd, while its 2025 forecast was cut by 50,000 bpd to 980,000 bpd.

OPEC in its monthly report on Wednesday kept its forecasts for world oil demand growth for this year and next unchanged at 2.25 million and 1.85 million bpd, respectively.

Both contracts rose on Wednesday, breaking a three-day losing streak, after a report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a drop in and gasoline stocks.

“The bounce back is largely due to the continued drawdowns in U.S. inventories as reported by the EIA,” Suvro Sarkar, in the energy sector team at DBS Bank, told Reuters.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels to 445.1 million barrels in the week ended July 5, far exceeding the 1.3 million-barrel draw expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Gasoline stocks fell by 2 million barrels to 229.7 million barrels, much bigger than the 600,000-barrel draw analysts expected during the U.S. Fourth of July holiday week.

Meanwhile, U.S. Consumer Price Index inflation data is expected at 1230 GMT, which could offer fresh clues on the health of demand. A Producer Price Index inflation report is expected on Friday.

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell lifted expectations for the central bank to ease policy in September, as markets currently expect. However, Powell was unwilling to conclude inflation was moving sustainably down to the bank’s 2% target, reiterating that a rate-cut decision would be reliant on data.

Easing interest rates could be positive for oil because cheaper credit could increase consumer demand generally.