Oil prices steadied on Friday, snapping a week-long decline as investors closed positions at the end of a volatile week that saw prices slide nearly 10 percent on renewed signs a global supply glut was here to stay.
Brent’s new front-month December contract LCOc1 was up 25 cents at $49.98 a barrel at 1125 GMT. November Brent expired at $48.71 a barrel on Thursday, down 44 cents day on day.
U.S. crude’s front-month November contract CLc1 traded 38 cents higher at $46.76 a barrel.
“Investors holding short positions have already started to take profit ahead of the weekend after four days of decline,” said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
Strong equities markets also supported gains as European shares extended a rally on Friday, buoyed by bullish Asian and U.S. trading on positive U.S. economic data.
Despite Friday’s gains, WTI was set to make its steepest weekly loss in 10 weeks and Brent in eight weeks, after the International Energy Agency predicted the market to remain oversupplied through 2016.
via Reuters
Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.