Investing.com - Crude futures trimmed gains on Friday, wiping out earlier advances stemming from a surprise Chinese rate growth, as investors concluded the move won't fuel enough growth to make a major dent in a global supply glut.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for delivery in January traded up 0.11% at $75.93 a barrel during U.S. trading, up from a session low of $75.63 a barrel and off a high of $77.80 a barrel.
The January contract settled up 1.81% at $74.85 a barrel on Thursday.
Support for the commodity was seen at $73.92 a barrel, Wednesday's low, and resistance at $79.80 a barrel, the high from Nov. 10.
Oil prices shot up earlier on news that China cut its benchmark one-year deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.75% and trimmed its one-year lending rate by 40 basis points to 5.6% to boost its economy.
By afternoon U.S. trading, prices moved lower, even back into negative territory at times, on concerns that the move won't send China's economy growing to the point it will make a serious dent in a global supply glut.
Market talk that OPEC oil countries may move to trim production at their Nov. 27 meeting supported the commodity as well.
Libya recently hinted at a need to trim output to shore up prices.
Oil ministers from Iran, Libya, Venezuela, Ecuador and Algeria have asked for action to prevent further price declines, while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have resisted calls to lower production.
Markets are speculating that a Saudi-backed willingness to let prices slide will prompt U.S. shale producers to halt operations as a result, as such production costs more than traditional drilling.
Once U.S. shale producers table their operations for profitability reason, prices would presumably rise as the global economy absorbs excess supply.
Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for January delivery were up 0.33% at US$79.60 a barrel, while the spread between Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at $3.67.