Investing.com - U.S. oil futures tumbled on Friday, as investors grew cautious ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated meeting between major oil producers in Doha, Qatar, to discuss a potential output freeze.
U.S. crude futures for May delivery were last at $40.64 a barrel, down 2.10%.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, the June Brent contract lost 1.78% to $43.04 a barrel.
Oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia were scheduled to meet in Qatar on Sunday to discuss freezing output around current levels in an effort to contain a global supply glut.
Investors seemed to shrugg off earlier data showing that China’s gross domestic product rose by an annualized rate of 6.7% in the first quarter, in line with market expectations, following a growth rate of 6.8% in the three months to December.
China the world’s second biggest oil consumer.
Separately, market participants were eyeing a string of U.S. economic reports due later in the day, after mixed data on Thursday sparked uncertainty over the strength of the U.S. economy.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 9 decreased by 13,000 to 253,000, the lowest level since March 1973.
A separate report showed that the U.S. consumer price index rose 0.1% in March, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% gain. Year-on-year, consumer prices rose 0.9% last month, confounding expectations for an increase of 1.0%.