SINGAPORE, Nov 22: U.S. Crude futures slipped towards $95 a barrel in early Asian trade on Friday as sharp gains overnight prompted investors to sell and book profits.
The U.S. Benchmark posted its biggest gain in nearly two months, driven higher in part by New York gasoline futures , which surged on supply concerns as an outage at the nation’s largest refinery added to a cluster of plant problems.
U.S. Oil slipped 20 cents to $95.24 a barrel by 0023 GMT, after settling $1.59 higher and is set to post a weekly rise after six straight weeks of losses. Brent crude settled $2.02 higher at $110.08, and is poised to gain for a second straight week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Iran and six major powers have made some progress toward an interim deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, but both sides said on Thursday they still have significant differences to overcome.
* As the Federal Reserve nears a decision to pare its bond-buying program, top policymakers on Thursday turned to a new monetary policy battlefront: a growing debate over how the Fed should signal the timing of eventual interest rate hikes.
* The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week and a gauge of factory activity hit an eight-month high in early November, hinting at some strength in the economy.
* A car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeastern Iraq on Thursday, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 30, the town’s mayor and medical sources said.
MARKETS NEWS
* Japanese stocks look set to be big beneficiaries from gains on Wall Street and a slide in the yen on Friday, though other Asian markets might not fare so well as investors become resigned to an inevitable slowdown in U.S. Stimulus.
* A sharp rally in the energy complex and higher grains and metals prices gave a key commodities index its largest gain in seven weeks on Thursday.
(agencies)
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