Investing.com - Oil succumbed to a bit of profit-taking during Friday’s Asian session after racing to a fourth consecutive gain during Thursday’s U.S. session.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for August delivery fell 0.43% to USD96.64 per barrel in Asian trading Friday after settling up 1.62% at USD97.05 a barrel on Thursday in the U.S.
Traders boosted oil futures following a spate of decent U.S. data points. In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index jumped 6.7% to 112.3 last month. Signed contracts are up 12.1% in the past year.
The Commerce Department said personal incomes rose 0.5%, or $69.4 billion, in May. Personal spending increased 0.3%. Economists expected a 0.2% gain in incomes and a 0.4% increase in spending.
The Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 346,000 last week. Economists expected a decline to 345,000 claims. For the four weeks ending June 22, claims declined by an average of 2,750 to 345,750.
The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer.
Separately, a press report out Thursday citing Harvard University said the U.S. could be the world’s largest oil producer by 2017 due to the shale boom there, but the report added that oil must stay above $75 per barrel in order for that to happen.
Soaring production at shale plays in states such as North Dakota and Texas have helped U.S. crude output reach its highest levels in multiple decades and by some estimates, the U.S. could be producing more crude than it imports within the next two years.
Elsewhere, Brent futures for August delivery fell 0.20% to USD102.47 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for August delivery fell 0.43% to USD96.64 per barrel in Asian trading Friday after settling up 1.62% at USD97.05 a barrel on Thursday in the U.S.
Traders boosted oil futures following a spate of decent U.S. data points. In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index jumped 6.7% to 112.3 last month. Signed contracts are up 12.1% in the past year.
The Commerce Department said personal incomes rose 0.5%, or $69.4 billion, in May. Personal spending increased 0.3%. Economists expected a 0.2% gain in incomes and a 0.4% increase in spending.
The Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 346,000 last week. Economists expected a decline to 345,000 claims. For the four weeks ending June 22, claims declined by an average of 2,750 to 345,750.
The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer.
Separately, a press report out Thursday citing Harvard University said the U.S. could be the world’s largest oil producer by 2017 due to the shale boom there, but the report added that oil must stay above $75 per barrel in order for that to happen.
Soaring production at shale plays in states such as North Dakota and Texas have helped U.S. crude output reach its highest levels in multiple decades and by some estimates, the U.S. could be producing more crude than it imports within the next two years.
Elsewhere, Brent futures for August delivery fell 0.20% to USD102.47 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.