Investing.com - Crude oil futures moved lower in Asian trade Friday, as hopes for higher energy demand ebbed in light of ongoing reported disagreement between European leaders on the make-up of the region’s debt rescue fund.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for November delivery traded at USD86.33 a barrel during early Asian trade, falling 0.06%, after hitting a daily high of USD86.50.
On Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint statement from Frankfurt, where the two agreed to meet Saturday in Brussels a day before the scheduled Sunday summit of European leaders.
Sunday’s confab in Brussels has become the focus of investor hopes since officials from the Group of 20 last weekend set the day as a deadline for Europe to devise a concerted action to boost the USD603 billion European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund.
The French and German leaders announced that a “comprehensive and ambitious” response to the debt crisis would emerge this weekend with a second meeting to take place no later than next Wednesday.
A surprisingly upbeat U.S. manufacturing report helped to provide downside support for oil futures; The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed that manufacturing activity in the state grew in October to a seasonally adjusted 8.7, from minus 17.5 the month before.
Analysts had expected the index, widely viewed as a harbinger of national trends, to fall by 9.5 last month and the data represented the biggest one month turnaround in 31 years.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims rose to 403,000 for the week ending, down from 409,000 the previous week, but slightly higher than the market expectation of a fall to 400,000.
Elsewhere, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez announced a 46% boost in government spending for 2012 on housing, agriculture and job creation ahead of next October’s re-election bid.
Venezuela, South America’s largest oil producer, relies on oil production for nearly 95% of export revenue and half of government spending.
A falling U.S. dollar helped contributed to higher oil futures, as dollar-denominated futures contracts tend to rise when the dollar falls.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, lost 0.16% to 77.28.
On the ICE Futures Exchange Brent oil futures for November delivery fell 0.52% to trade at USD109.36.