Oil futures edged lower on Friday, with both major benchmarks posting their third weekly decline in four weeks as worries about the demand outlook have grown in response to rising COVID-19 cases.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery fell 6 cents, or nearly 0.2%, to settle at $40.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, off the day’s low of $39.71 reported MarketWatch.
Front-month November Brent fell 2 cents, or 0.05%, to $41.92 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. December Brent, the most actively traded contract, lost 5 cents, or 0.1%, at $42.41 a barrel.
“Investors have become more cautious this week in general…as recent increases in coronavirus cases has increased questions over what a second wave could mean for the world economy and resource demand,” Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, told MarketWatch.
The current wave is under close scrutiny by Oklahoma health officials who reported Friday that the state’s current trend with new positive cases continues to reflect “community transmission.”
They reported the state ranks 26th in the number of total reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and 16th in the cumulative incidence (per 100,000 persons) of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
A rebound in the U.S. dollar this week has also weighed on dollar-denominated oil prices, he said. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.23% was up around 1.8% for the week.
Based on the front-month contracts, WTI, the U.S. benchmark, declined 2.6% for the week, and global benchmark Brent crude marked a weekly loss of nearly 2.9%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Source: MarketWatch
