Thursday's disappointing U.S. data revived worries over demand growth, while the stronger dollar added to the downside pressures on prices.
“All U.S. economic indications in the last few days have been weak and that is raising doubts about demand”, said Tetsu Emori from Astmax Investments, Tokyo.
The world’s biggest oil consumer showed fresh signs of slowing in the second quarter, as with factory activity slipped in April while the jobless claims rose last week.
The dollar index continues to trade near a 10-month high. Oil tends to move inversely against the dollar as it reduces the appeal of dollar dominated commodities.
“The dollar will influence oil quite a bit over the next few sessions because at some point it will start to weaken as it has strengthened too much in recent days”, Emori added.
- Crude oil is trading around the $94.97 a barrel, after falling from the highest $94.40 to the lowest $93.67
- Brent is trading around $103.90 a barrel at the time of writing after falling 0.01% or $0.01
While the strong dollar and a weak outlook for demand weigh on prices, uncertainties over the political tensions in the Middle East prevent oil from falling deeper.
Russia`s foreign minister said that Iran should take part in a proposed international conference to try to end Syria`s civil war which is affecting the oil rich region.
Markets will focus on the ECB’s 3-year LTRO repayment, eurozone’s construction output, Canada’s CP, the U.S. consumer confidence and leading indicators.
- Natural gas is trading at $3.937 per cubic feet after rising 0.13%
- Gasoline is trading at $2.8774 a gallon after falling 0.17%
- Heating oil is trading at $2.9043 a gallon after falling 0.15%