Crude Oil Ends Lower, But Gains 3.5% For Week

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a three-day gain to end lower on Friday, as the dollar trended higher and notwithstanding some upbeat global economic data. Crude oil was also impacted on reports that crude shipments from Iraq touched a record high, with the output from Organization of the Petroleum Countries at its highest since late 2012. With the greenback rising, crude oil prices paused after strong recent gains on the back of a weak dollar.

For the week, crude oil gained about 3.5 percent.

Traders are calling it a technical breakout helped by tensions in the Middle East, where Yemen's civil war has become a proxy fight between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In any case, a massive build in global stockpiles has failed to dent prices of late.

Crude oil shipment from Iraq scaled a 30-year high, with shipments touching about 31.1 million barrels in April. Meanwhile, OPEC as a whole also continued to pump oil at a very high rate, touching record levels, adding to the supply glut.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly report on Wednesday showed. U.S. commercial crude inventories to have increased by 1.9 million barrels last week, maintaining a total U.S. commercial crude inventory of 490.9 million barrels.

In some upbeat data, economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector continued to expand in April with consumer sentiment in the U.S. also improving in April. However, U.S. construction spending in March decreased unexpectedly.

Elsewhere, manufacturing sector in China continued expand slightly in April, while the manufacturing sector in Japan slipped into contraction for the first time in nine months. Meanwhile, British manufacturing activity unexpectedly eased sharply to a seven-month low in April amid weaker demand.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.48 or 0.8 percent, to settle at $59.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Crude prices for June delivery scaled a high of $59.90 a barrel intraday and a low of $58.32.

On Thursday, crude oil gained $1.05 or1.8 percent, to settle at $59.63 a barrel, on some upbeat jobless claims for unemployment benefits data from the U.S. with the dollar continuing to slide.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 95.27 on Friday, up from its previous close of 94.81 on Thursday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 95.40 intraday and a low of 94.50.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.200 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.1223 in North American trade late Thursday. The euro scaled a high of $1.1292 intraday and a low of $1.1177.

On the economic front, economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector continued to expand in April, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed Friday, although the index of activity in the sector unexpectedly held steady.

The ISM said its purchasing managers index came in at 51.5 in April, unchanged from the previous month. While a reading above 50 indicates continued growth in the manufacturing sector, economists had expected the index to edge up to 52.0.

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. saw a modest improvement in April, a report from the University of Michigan said Friday. The consumer sentiment index for April came in at 95.9, unrevised from the mid-month reading and up from 93.0 in March. Economists expected the index to be upwardly revised to 96.0.

Partly reflecting a sharp pullback in spending on residential construction, a Commerce Department report showed an unexpected decrease in U.S. construction spending in March. Construction spending fell by 0.6 percent to annual rate of $966.6 billion in March from the revised February estimate of $972.9 billion. Economists expected construction spending to increase by about 0.5 percent.

The manufacturing sector in China continued to barely expand in April, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.1. That beat expectations for 50.0, and was unchanged from the March reading.

The manufacturing sector in Japan slipped into contraction for the first time in nine months, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed Friday with a revised manufacturing PMI reading of 49.9. This is up from last month's preliminary April reading of 47.7, although it is down from 50.3 in March.

British manufacturing activity unexpectedly eased sharply to a seven-month low in April amid weaker demand, while central bank data showed that consumer creditgrew strongly, suggesting that the fragile economic recovery was largely being led by consumption.

Poor figures for the factory sector coupled with weaker-than-expected first quarter U.K. GDP may prove a severe blow to the Conservatives just days ahead of the May 7 election. The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 51.9 in April from March's 54, which was revised from 54.4. Economists had expected the index to rise to 54.6.

U.K. mortgage approvals unexpectedly declined in March, after rising in the previous three months, data from the Bank of England showed Friday. The number of loan approvals for home purchase fell to 61,341 from a six-month high of 61,523 in February. Economists had expected an increase to 62,500.

Crude Oil Ends Sharply Higher; Gains 25% For Month

Crude oil futures surged 25 percent for the month, the highest in nearly six years.

The recent rally has been fueled by a weaker dollar and concerns about supplies from the Middle East, where an escalating civil war in Yemen threatens to embroil Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Signs of a slowdown in U.S. shale oil production also lifted prices. U.S. weekly oil stockpiles rose by 1.9 million barrels last week to 490.1 million barrels, official data showed. Stockpiles climbed for the 16th straight week since the week ended January 9, but supplies at the U.S. storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma fell 514,000 barrels last week-end.

Some upbeat economic news also supported oil prices with the weekly jobless claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. dropping more than expected to a 15-year low, while a report from MNI Indicators showed a substantial rebound in Chicago-area business activity in April.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 94.77 on Thursday, down from its previous close of 95.21 on Wednesday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 95.45 intraday and a low of 94.40.

The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.1259 on Thursday, as compared to its previous close of $1.1130 in North American trade late Wednesday. The euro scaled a high of $1.1262 intraday and a low of $1.1073.

On the economic front, in an upbeat sign for the labor market, a Labor Department report on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits to have pulled back to its lowest level in fifteen years for the week ended April 25. Initial jobless claims dropped to 262,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised level of 296,000. Economists expected jobless claims to edge down to 288,000 from the 295,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A Commerce Department report on Thursday showed a continued increase in U.S. personal spending in March, while personal income was unexpectedly flat.

Personal spending rose 0.4 percent in March following an upwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in February. Economists expected spending to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Personal income inched up less than a tenth of a percent in March after increasing by 0.4 percent in February. Income had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

Pointing to a positive start to the second quarter, a MNI Indicators report showed a substantial rebound in Chicago-area business activity in April. MNI's Chicago business barometer jumped to 52.3 in April from 46.3 in March, with a reading above 50 indicating an expansion. Economists expected the barometer to climb to a reading of 50.0.

Eurozone unemployment rate remained unchanged for a second straight month in March, at its lowest level in nearly three years, preliminary data from Eurostat showed Thursday. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 11.3 percent, unchanged from both February and January. Economists had forecast a decline in the rate to 11.2 percent.

Eurozone consumer prices remained flat in April as expected by economists after falling for four consecutive months, flash data from Eurostat showed Thursday. Consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent in March and 0.3 percent in February.

Germany's retail sales unexpectedly declined for a second straight month in March, preliminary figures from the statistical office Destatis showed Thursday. Retail sales fell a calendar-and-seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent from February, when they dropped 0.1 percent. Economists had expected a 0.5 percent gain for March. The latest decrease was the biggest in more than a year.

German unemployment declined less than expected in April, the Federal Labor Agency reported Thursday. The number of people out of work declined by seasonally adjusted 8,000 to 2.79 million in April. It was forecast to fall by 15,000.

France's consumer spending declined for the first time in five months in March and at a faster than expected pace, mainly due to a slump in energy consumption, preliminary data from the statistical office INSEE showed Thursday. Household consumption of goods dropped 0.6 percent from February, when they grew 0.2 percent, which was revised up from 0.1 percent. Economists were looking for a 0.5 percent fall.

France's producer prices continued to decline in March, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed Thursday. Producer prices for the French market fell 2.2 percent year-over-year in March, but slower than previous month's 2.6 percent decline.