Investing.com - Crude oil futures were little changed during early European trading hours on Friday, trading near more than one-month lows after Thursday's strong U.S. data, while investors were eyeing upcoming U.S. economic reports to be released later in the day.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at USD98.17 a barrel during European morning trade, down 0.04%.
The April contract settled up 0.21% on Thursday to end at USD98.20 a barrel.
Oil futures were likely to find support at USD97.14 a barrel, the low from February 7 and resistance at USD99.59 a barrel, the high from March 12.
Oil prices remained under pressure after the U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday said that retail sales rose by 0.3% last month, beating expectations for a 0.2% increase.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, increased by 0.3% in February, compared to forecasts for a 0.2% increase.
Core sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of the government's gross domestic product report. Consumer spending accounts for as much as 70% of U.S. economic growth.
A separate report showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell unexpectedly to hit a 14-week low of 315,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 324,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 6,000 to 330,000 last week.
The better than expected data reinforced the view that the Federal Reserve is likely to continue to gradually taper its bond-buying program.
Markets were also jittery after data on Thursday showed that Chinese industrial production rose 8.6% in the first two months of 2014, missing market expectations for an increase of 9.5%, while Chinese retail sales rose by a smaller-than-forecast 11.8% in the same period.
Elsewhere Russia launched new military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, showing no sign of backing down on plans to annex Crimea. The move sparked renewed concerns over Russian oil supplies.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said serious steps would be imposed by the U.S. and Europe if the referendum on Crimea joining Russia takes place on Sunday as planned.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery edged up 0.04% to trade at USD106.93 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD8.76 a barrel.