HOUSTON – Oil prices edged higher on strong economic data in the euro zone and Britain, but futures fell for the week as interest rate and demand uncertainty weighed.
Brent futures settled up 56 cents at $81.66 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose 50 cents to $77.87 per barrel.
Brent posted a weekly loss of 5.4 percent, while WTI fell 5.6 percent.
Both crude benchmarks slid by more than 2 percent on Thursday – to their lowest since the unexpected announcement in early April of production cuts by some OPEC countries – on recession fears and swelling US gasoline inventories.
Survey data from the euro zone and Britain lifted oil prices on Friday.
The euro zone economic recovery has unexpectedly gathered pace this month as the bloc’s dominant services industry saw already-buoyant demand rise, more than offsetting a deepening downturn in manufacturing, surveys showed.
“It looks like the economy is rebounding from a feeble winter at the moment, but manufacturing weakness remains a concern and dampens the upturn,” ING economics said in a note.
British businesses also reported a bounce in activity and the slowest input cost inflation in more than two years, an industry survey showed.
In India, refiners’ crude oil processing stayed near record peaks in March, provisional government data showed, catering to solid seasonal demand in the world’s third biggest oil consumer. – Reuters
