Crude Oil Ends Lower, But Yemen Weighs; Gains 2.5% For Week

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil ended lower on Friday, but was still at a four-month high, even as fighting in Yemen threatens to embroil the entire region with the ongoing civil war seen as a proxy fight between oil powers Iran and Saudi Arabia.

For the week, crude oil futures gained about 2.5 percent.

Saudi Arabia resumed air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, amid reports of renewed violence in war-ravaged country. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday said a flotilla of nine Iranian warships reportedly carrying weapons and ammunition for the Houthi rebels were blocked by U.S. naval ships. The warships have since turned back to Iran, avoiding any skirmishes that could have turned into a major incident.

Meanwhile, oilfield service company Baker Hughes earlier today said U.S. rigs count actively drilling for oil dropped by 33 to 703 rigs, from a week ago, fueling speculations of further decline in U.S. domestic output.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.59 or 1.0 percent, to settle at $57.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Crude prices for June delivery scaled a high of $57.95 a barrel intraday and a low of $56.50.

On Thursday, crude oil jumped $1.58 or 2.8 percent, to settle at $57.74 a barrel, after the dollar weakened on some soft economic data from the U.S., and amid renewed violence in Yemen, where a proxy fight between Iran and Saudi Arabia threatens to destabilize the region.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 96.99 on Friday, down from its previous close of 97.31 on Thursday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 97.56 intraday and a low of 96.76.

The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.0856 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.0825 in North American trade late Thursday. The euro scaled a high of $1.0901 intraday and a low of $1.0785.

On the economic front, new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased more than expected in March, a report from the Commerce Department showed Friday, due primarily to strength in the volatile transportation sector. The report said durable goods orders surged up by 4.0 percent in March after slumping by 1.4 percent in February. Economists had expected orders to edge up by just 0.5 percent.

German business confidence strengthened for the sixth straight month to a 10-month high in April reflecting the continuing upswing in the economy, but firms turned less optimistic about the business outlook.

The business confidence index rose more-than-expected to 108.6 in April from 107.9 in March, the results of a survey by Munich-based Ifo Institute showed Friday. This was the highest score since June 2014, when it stood at 109.4. The indicator was forecast to rise moderately to 108.4 in April.

The total value of orders received by the German construction industry increased in February from a year ago, figures from Destatis showed Friday. Orders in the construction sector climbed a price-adjusted 0.7 percent year-over-year in February.

British households perceive that the value of their home increased in April, a survey from Knight Frank and Markit Economic showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, or HPSI, rose to 58.2 in March from 57.5 in the previous month. This marked the twenty-fifth consecutive month of the index remaining above 50.