Investing.com - Crude oil prices held steady to slightly weaker Friday in Asia with supplies seen ample to meet global demand.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in September traded at $95.57 a barrel, down 0.02%, after hitting an overnight session low of $95.64 a barrel and a high of $97.58 a barrel.
Brent oil, the global benchmark, settled down 2.2% at $102.01 a barrel on Thursday, the lowest price since June 26, 2013. It was the largest one-day decline since January. The September contract expired at settlement Thursday. The more-actively traded October contract settled down 2.9% at $102.07 a barrel.
Overnight, disappointing U.S. jobless claims numbers coupled with a soft German economic growth report sent oil prices tumbling to near seven-month lows.
The U.S. Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 9 increased by 21,000 to 311,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 290,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 295,000 last week, and concerns the U.S. economy faces potholes on its road to recovery pushed down oil prices.
Meanwhile in Europe, soft economic growth numbers bruised oil prices as well, especially those out of Germany, the continent's economic engine.
The euro zone’s gross domestic product came in flat for the three months to June, according to Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office, missing market expectations for 0.1% growth. The euro zone’s economy grew 0.2% in the preceding quarter.
Year-on-year, the euro zone GDP expanded by 0.7%, in line with expectations after expanding at a rate of 0.9% in the first quarter.
Germany’s economy shrank by 0.2% in the three month to June, the first drop since 2012 and worse than forecasts for a contraction of 0.1%.