TOKYO, March 28 Reuters Oil prices edged up on Thursday, following two consecutive sessions of decline, as investors reassessed the latest data on U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories and returned to buying mode.

Brent crude futures for May were up 40 cents, or 0.5, at 86.49 a barrel while the more actively traded June contract rose 36 cents, or 0.4, to 85.77 at 0757 GMT. The May contract expires on Thursday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures for May delivery were up 44 cents, or 0.5, to 81.79 a barrel.

Both benchmarks were on track to finish higher for a third consecutive month, and were up about 4.5 from last month.

In the prior session, oil prices were pressured following last week39;s unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories, driven by a rise in crude imports and sluggish gasoline demand, according to Energy Information Administration data.

However, the crude stock increase was smaller than the build projected by the American Petroleum Institute.

We … expect U.S. inventories to rise less than normal in reflection of a global oil market in a slight deficit, Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB Research, said in a note.

This will likely hand support to the Brent crude oil price going forward.

Also providing support to prices were U.S. refinery utilisation rates, which rose 0.9 percentage points last week.

Recent disappointing inflation data affirms the case for the U.S. Federal Reserve to hold off on cutting…