The oil market faced a rollercoaster week as traders tracked buoyant global equities, soaring US crude stockpiles and the global economic outlook, analysts said.
Crude prices almost hit one-month peaks on Monday, drawing strength from global economic recovery hopes, before diving under US$65 per barrel on Friday after poor growth data in top oil consumer the US.
“Financial markets continue to flip rapidly between bouts of optimism and pessimism,” Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said.
“So far this summer, a fairly consistent pattern has been established whereby markets rally strongly for a few weeks on better-than-expected economic data, before suffering a collective loss of confidence when that run is interrupted by something less positive,” he said.
OIL: Crude prices shot higher on Friday, propelled by news the US economy shrank less than expected in the second quarter, offering more hope for an economic rebound.
A sharp decline in the dollar also helped support the oil rally.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September, jumped US$2.51 to close at US$69.45 dollars a barrel on Friday, from US$67.00 one week earlier. In London, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery gained US$1.59 to settle at US$71.70 a barrel, against US$69.31 a week earlier.
The New York session was volatile, with the barrel swinging in a range of nearly US$5.
PRECIOUS METALS: Prices mostly fell on falling investment demand.
“Investment buying continues to wane,” Barclays Capital analysts said. “Prices are likely to continue to track the day-to-day movements of the dollar, unless we see medium-term investment buying returning to levels seen earlier this year.”
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$939 an ounce from US$951.50 a week earlier.
Silver sank to US$13.63 an ounce from US$13.78.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum firmed to US$1,189 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,186.
Palladium decreased to US$256 an ounce from US$258.
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