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Oil futures pulled back modestly Friday, in line with weaker equities and other assets perceived as risky, but remain on track for a weekly gain.
West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery
CL00,
CLU21,
fell 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $73.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, leaving the U.S. benchmark on track for a 1.9% weekly rise. September Brent crude
BRNU21,
the global benchmark, fell 1 cent to $76.04 a barrel. The most actively traded October contract
BRN00,
BRNV21,
was down 13 cents or 0.2% at $74.96 a barrel, leaving it up 2.1% for the week.
“We’re seeing risk coming off the table across the board today so it’s no surprise to see crude caught up in that,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note. U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a lower start for Wall Street Friday and continuing a weak tone in global equities trading.
“Oil has risen more than 12% over the last week and a half and is trading just shy of its July highs so it’s understandable that we’re seeing a little profit taking at the end of the week,” he said.
Crude was boosted earlier this week as U.S. government data showed a weekly drawdown in domestic crude, gasoline and distillate inventories. Analysts remain largely upbeat over the outlook for demand despite earlier hiccups caused by worries about the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
